Into Greatness
by MelasZepheos
Summary: Maia Shepard survived the destruction of her home, the loss of her squad, and when an even greater threat looms, she will never back down from the fight. A complete novelisation, that was written in real time as  played the game.
1. Prologue: Eden Prime

**AN:-** So yes, I'm back. Now that I'm back at university I will have a lot more time for writing, and for viewing the sorts of things which get me writing. As part of a Fresher's Week thing I'm basically playing a whole lot of videogames, something I haven't had a lot of time for in the last four months, and I've started with Mass Effect. Just before I started, I decided I was going to write the entire thing, as I was playing it, so it was fresh in my mind. This is the first chapter, and sort of giving myself a clue as to whether this will even be possible. It took about three hours to write, and thus far has had very little editing.

I hope you enjoy the story of Maia Shepard, because I know that I'm going to!

(This is the revised prologue, so for any new readers, this is hopefully the much better opening, for people who wanted to read it again, I hope you like the changes I've made, hopefully it flows a little better now)

**Prologue: Eden Prime**

Maia Shepard looked out the viewport, wondering quite where she was going to be stationed next. It wasn't as if she had been given any hints from her higher up, and after the devastation she had lived through on Akuze, she wasn't entirely sure if she even wanted out of the little R&R break she was taking.

It had been three years ago now, and still the Alliance military didn't seem to trust her with anything more than milk runs and escort missions. She was so sick of watching a bunch of scientists fidget as they were catapulted from one end of space to the other, the next time she saw a white coat she was liable to start breaking things.

Her private comm terminal blinked the new message sign at her. She tapped it open and read the new assignment briefing. It didn't look too exciting, she knew Captain Anderson's name, but the ship was fresh out of the docks, checking her calendar, she was surprised to see she had only two days to report in. Normally an assignment was given at least two weeks in advance. Someone was trying to keep her new mission quiet, for whatever reason.

The Normandy, that was the ship name. She strode through it, heading for the cockpit. It was going to be yet another simple shake-down run out to Eden Prime, she didn't really know anything else. She arrived just as the pilot was bringing them up to the relay, the swirling blue sparks catching their ship and hurling it far into space, the inertia cancelled by the on board eezo.

The pilot was running through the ship's status when the Turian next to her spoke "1500 is good, your captain will be pleased." The translators usually did some job of bringing emotion across as well, so either her translator was malfunctioning, or this Turian wasn't used to giving compliments.

She stepped up behind the pilot's chair as the Lieutenant and pilot argued, when suddenly they turned back to her. "Yeah, that's is the official story, but only an idiot believes the official story."

"They don't send Spectres on Shakedown runs," She agreed, her mission briefing had mentioned the SPECTRE, she just hadn't expected him to be such an intrusion. It seemed like everywhere she turned on the ship he was looking over her shoulder, and in such tight quarters, it was really beginning to aggravate her.

Joker was about to say something more when the captain patched through. Mission reports before they'd even reached Eden prime? This was unusual. When Joker was finished talking to him, she was told to report back to the comm room.

"He sounds angry, something must have gone wrong with the mission."

Joker grumbled under his breath as she turned, "Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me.

"Can't possibly imagine why." She was just able to hear the Lieutenant respond before she was out in the hallway.

She hadn't had that long to get acclimated to the Normandy, but she at least knew where the comm room was. Heading back through the ship she stopped quickly to talk to the XO, who was discussing the Turian. With very little prodding, she got him to reveal that the Turian was in fact a Spectre named Nihlus, and that Pressly at least didn't feel too happy having him on board. He was apologetic, but she sensed an underlying current of something more.

She didn't have time to worry about someone else's racism, but his paranoia was definitely something she had to investigate. He was right, they didn't send a crew like this on a simple mission. She reassured Pressly, and moved on.

Outside the comm room she met one of the corporals, who was talking with the doctor. He was overexcited, and very green, she could see it immediately. He might have rank, but he didn't have experience. She winced a little internally when he mentioned Akuse. That was not something she wanted to remember, and she told him so. She at least managed to get a little more information about Eden Prime out of him. Things were really beginning to get suspicious. Taking a fully armed crew into a supposed safe zone, and with a SPECTRE on board as well?

Frowning a little to herself, she headed into the comm room. It was time to get some answers. The Turian was in there alone, and she couldn't help but feel she'd been ambushed. She kept her tone civil as she answered his questions. He was being oddly antagonistic, she couldn't quite figure out why he seemed to be almost threatening Eden Prime, but she was growing increasingly tired of his attitude.

It was then that Captain Anderson came in, and they confirmed her suspicions; there was something on Eden Prime, something they were going to be collecting. She was annoyed, and didn't mind telling him about it. The people under his command deserved to be kept in the know at all times. She could understand his caution though. A Prothean beacon would be an incredible find, even if the other species were making use of it, it would be a crowning achievement for a human colony, a much needed PR boost.

That was when they dropped the other bombshell. Her, a SPECTRE, and the first human as well. They were really going for broke on this mission. If they came back with a human SPECTRE and a Prothean beacon, then who knew how far humanity could climb up the ladder of Galactic politics? While the prospect of going on multiple missions with the Turian didn't exactly entice, she knew it was necessary. After gathering some more information, she was ready to begin the mission, when Joker suddenly broke through the communications and transmitted a distressing video from the surface of Eden Prime.

_We need to get there,_ Shepard was thinking, even as Captain Anderson was asking Joker the same thing. Whatever the ship was on screen, it was like nothing she had ever seen before, and that even the SPECTRE seemed to be a little disturbed by it was a lot scarier than it should have been. It looked like they were going in, and she was taking the L and the corporal with her. she didn't relish the thought of commanding again, but she recognised the necessity.

Down in the lower deck they were given more orders she didn't like. Ignoring the colonists in peril, just to focus on some ancient technology? It wasn't her idea of a mission, but the captain was adamant. At least Nihlus would be going up ahead, which would relieve some of the stress on her and her team.

She kept her weapon up as she led her team up into the path to the colony. Jenkins didn't seem too worried by the floating gas balls, so she tried to put them out of her mind. Thoughts and images came flooding back to her, leading her team through the wreckage of another colony, very similar to this, when suddenly the Threshers burst through the ground, and memories from even further back, another colony, when a frightened child had been unable to hold a weapon, and unable to fend off the attackers.

She shook her head a little, this was not the time, or the place, to be dwelling on memories like that. If she wanted this mission to go right, and these men to get out alive, she was going to have to project every inch of confidence that she could.

Reaching a small outcropping strewn with rocks, she gestured Jenkins ahead to scout while she and Alenko covered. She was just wondering why it seemed so quiet when drones shot from around the cover of the trees and opened fire on Jenkins. He grunted in pain as the slugs hit him, and even as she was bringing her pistol to bear her head was screaming, _Not again, not again._

Recoil bucked up her arm as the pistol cracked. A couple of waves from her omni tool, and the drones exploded, flashing bright blue. She thought she recognised the design from some military history class, but there were more pressing concerns. Jenkins was down, and while she kept her voice steady, hoping Alenko held together, she knew it wasn't good. Only two minutes into a mission, her first big mission since Akuse, and already she was a man down. Biting her lip inside her helmet, she pushed on, hearing more drones around the corner.

There weren't too many, and now they were prepared she and Alenko were able to take them down with little stress. Nihlus radioed in about the dig site, but she was barely listening. Ahead she could hear gun shots, and the sounds of people dying. Moving fast, she crested the ridge just in time to see one of the colonial militia stepping out from behind a rock with her assault rifle raised.

There were two robots of distressingly familiar design. _What the hell are the Geth doing outside the veil?_ She opened up her sniper rifle and fired twice, blowing the eyepieces off the geth and shutting them down for good. She stepped out from behind the rock to find a very scared Gunnery Chief waiting for her,

Their conversation was brief, to the point, and even in those few seconds she got a good impression from Ashley Williams. Even with most of her unit wiped out and her home for however long burned to the ground, she was holding together, and was more than able to give directions for them. _We are down a man, and this isn't exactly a friendly environment..._

She invited the chief to join them. They needed all the help they could get after all, and from the sounds of things they hadn't even reached the main body of the attack yet. The three of them moved off, Shepard more than a little worried by the bright colours of Williams' armour. _I don't even know if the geth see colour,_ She reasoned with herself, _The Threshers didn't, and that didn't stop them._

There were a few stragglers, a couple of outlying soldiers, but nothing more where the beacon should have been. They clambered up a hill and came across one of the colony outposts. Alongside them were spikes, and on top there seemed to be, she was loath to call them people, they were little more than shells, with circuitry running up and down their bodies. _Why bother putting electronics into a dead body?_ Even as her mind was processing this fact her gun arm was already rising, far more aware of the danger than her conscious self.

The husks were dropped to the floor, but they didn't fall, pulling themselves off the spikes to advance on her team. They went down, but it wasn't easy, and when one of them got in close it released an energy pulse which fried her shields for a moment. Thankfully Williams put it down before it could take a bite out of her, but it was harrowing nonetheless.

Both Williams and Alenko were talking nervously as they went to the prefabs and opened them up. One of them required a little hacking, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She was almost grateful for the electronics, at least they weren't resurrecting or trying to shoot her. Inside the shelter they ran right into a pair of scientists.

One was coherent, and apart from clearly being scared out of her mind was able to give them some information, though not much of it immediately useful. Shepard logged it anyway, aware that her mission was still the retrieval of the beacon, and then inquired about the other. He was out of his mind, babbling insanely, but still she couldn't help but frown at what he was saying. She had trusted the predictions of crazier before, and they had turned out to be true.

Once again the memory of the Threshers returned. Someone had warned them then as well, and she hadn't listened. When she turned back to Williams and Alenko her face was calm, but she told them to tighten it up anyway. No point getting surprised, especially when someone else clearly expected you to.

Stumbling around the camp site had managed to find them some new weapons, left over by the marines who weren't fast enough when the attack hit, and even some of the modifications soldiers liked to put into their guns. Shepard wasn't a fan, but she had to admit that having a slug with an extra twenty percent of force might just be useful. She spent a moment outfitting her team when they heard a shot ring out in the distance, over by the spaceport.

_Nihlus?_

She hadn't heard him firing yet, but she hadn't exactly been listening for it either. Either way she gathered her squad and set out again, the monorail now in site. As they came over the hill they saw something taking off in the distance, emitting some sort of noise. It felt like something was drilling into the back of her jaw, and as she stared at it through the scope of her rifle she felt memories bubbling to the surface again, painful memories, that caused her to blink tears from her eyes and turn away. She could see Alenko and Williams, neither of them able to look at the ship either. The noise faded, and it was gone.

There were a few more geth and husks, but for once they were far away that her sniping ability came in handy, and she was able to put most of them down before they even realised there was someone shooting.

"Good shooting commander," Alenko nodded at her.

She didn't respond, shooting was second nature to her, and in the six years since she had left Akuse, she had spent every hour putting more and more practice into her already formidable skills. Nowadays, as long as she was behind a scope, and the enemy a good mile away, she was completely in control.

The area was a wreck, some more colonists hiding in one of the shelters, who apparently had been smuggling weapons. She took their contraband, tossed the pistol to Alenko, and led them down to the structure. Nihlus was there.

Dead.

He was lying facedown in a pool of his own blood and brain fluid. The LT investigated and decided on a pistol shot to the back of the head. She had to agree. Someone had executed him, and he had apparently been unable to defend himself. It couldn't have been a geth attack, there was no way a SPECTRE would have been snuck up on like this.

As she was puzzling over it something moved behind the crates. A quick investigation revealed that they had found the smugglers' contact. He told them about the other Turian, who had apparently shot Nihlus, confirming Alenko's diagnosis. _Saren._ Shepard committed the name both to memory and file. She would need that information.

He had grenades, which caused Williams to come close to meltdown. Shepard understood, but she didn't like seeing it. For all her control, the Chief was close to snapping, and she didn't have time to deal with it.

Thankfully, there were more geth to deal with, and by the time they reached the monorail Williams was back under control. She breathed deeply and turned to Shepard as the tram car sped along. "Sorry commander, I just..." She stared back, "Maybe we could have done more."

Shepard didn't need to point out that another couple of grenades would hardly have made a difference, but Williams clearly knew that already. Instead she handed her one of the heavy explosives, "You still can."

They came sprinting off the monorail, heading straight up the ramps and out onto the walkway. The geth had planted bombs. Shepard spared two moments, one to thank her trainers in defusing explosives, another to thank some deity that Williams and Alenko were there to cover her, then set about defusing them. It under two minutes they had defused all of them, and were sprinting for the beacon. It was in sight now, and there were only a few geth and husks left.

She was transfixed for a moment, staring into the swirling vortex of green, then she turned away and called up the Normandy. Just as she was finishing the call she saw that Alenko had been caught by the beacon somehow, and was being raised into the air by it. She charged forward without thinking, and smashed him out of the way, getting caught into the beam herself. As she was raised into the air images began to flash through her head, worlds burning and alien creatures writhing in agony from the flames.

She wasn't aware of when she blacked out, or when the vision stopped, only that it must have, because the next thing she knew she was opening her eyes in the Normandy's infirmary

**AN:- **What surprised me most, writing this, was how much I could remember without even having to play it (Even as I post this I'm only up to the defusing bombs bit). Something tells me I may have played this game too many times. Anyway. Assuming I play through at my usual speed, and will ignore a lot of the sidequests (Some I will write for obvious reasons) then this entire story should be finished in about thirty hours (Or a bit more as I switch from playing to writing and posting)

I'm playing on easy difficulty (Because it's more fun and I really am just playing it for the story this time) with a Female Shepard named Maia. She has the Colonist and Sole Survivor backgrounds, because I think those two combined would make for the most traumatised individual which is something I wanted to explore. I 've never liked the portrayal of Shepard (even in game) as some sort of immortal badass wonder-woman. Someone with that much emotional baggage would be pretty messed up, which I want to explore. While most of what I write will have taken place in game, a lot of the deeper characterisation moments will be outside of canon (like the monorail conversation), though still plausible. For me Shepard is someone thrust into greatness, doesn't want it, but is unwilling to let other people down. This is because she witnessed not only her whole familiy dying, but also her entire unit getting wiped out, and it's given her a deep desire not to ever let it happen again.

As you can probably tell from some of the sentences, I will also be attempting to keep some of the Bioware tongue in cheek humour in this story (things like including the upgrade systems as an entirely reasonable addition to the world, etc.) Expect some fun Mako scenes, since I will be basing this story off stuff that happens to me directly in game.


	2. Chapter 1: The Citadel

**AN:- **The epic of Maia Shepard continues. In this chapter she goes to the Citadel, and meets some pretty interesting people...

**Chapter One: The Citadel**

"You had us worried there Shepard, how are you feeling?" Doctor Chakwas asked her.

She pushed herself up and scanned around, immediately wishing she hadn't as her head swum with the motion. "Minor throbbing, nothing serious, how long was I out?"

The doctor seemed a lot happier now her patient was out of the danger zone. "About fifteen hours, something happened down there with the beacon I think"

Kaiden was there as well, "It was my fault commander I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it, you had to push me out of the way."

She felt an automatic need to comfort him; he seemed so down, "You had no way to know what would happen." She pointed out. He nodded, and smiled slightly.

Doctor Chakwas intervened, "Actually we don't even know if that's what set it off, unfortunately we'll never get the chance to find out."

Kaiden came round to stand by Chakwas, "The beacon exploded, system overload maybe. The blast knocked you cold, Williams and I had to carry you back to the ship."

"I appreciate it."

The doctor continued to talk to her, reminding her of the vision. She wasn't sure exactly what she should say, but she could trust the doctor, and whatever she had seen, it was related to the beacon, so it must have been important.

That was when Anderson arrived, and after checking on her health, dismissed both Alenko and Chakwas. She answered the questions quickly and professionally, making sure to check that Williams had been brought on board. The situation was about what she had expected though. What with a rogue SPECTRE and an invading force which hadn't been seen in hundreds of years, someone had to take the fall, and no one wanted it to be humanity. She had faith in the Council, but it was also comforting to hear that Anderson was behind her.

They discussed Saren, and the more she heard the more she worried. She relayed her vision to Anderson, who seemed a little hesitant, but she couldn't blame him, she was more than a little suspicious of her own thoughts. She knew herself, and her psyche was not the most stable of places. After having someone die, and seeing the devastation, so similar to other times in her life, she wasn't sure she could be trusted with the information.

She needed to convince the Council though, and for that she needed to be sure.

Outside the med bay she spoke to both Williams and Alenko, making sure they were both coping okay with the after effects of the mission. Even if Anderson was the captain, they were still her troops, and she needed to be there for them, no matter how hard it was on her to hear them talking about Jenkins.

As she headed up to the bridge she allowed herself a brief selfish thought, _I wish I had someone I could talk to, someone outside the military. _There was no chance of that though, not with her entire family dead, and her whole life centred now around the marines.

Joker was waiting for her, and just as she came in he was bringing them around through the concealing folds of the serpent nebula. Alenko and Williams rushed in soon after they were passing the outer defences, and as Maia was transfixed by the stunning view of the huge arms sweeping out into space, she heard Williams and Joker flirting a little in the background. She smiled, it was nice to see her fitting in already.

The moment she heard Udina speaking she wanted to punch him in the face. It was quite a strong urge, but she managed to keep it under control as she was grilled by the unhelpful little man. She quietly agreed with Ashley's opinion of him after he had left, but kept it to herself besides a small smile as she led her team out of the office and into the Citadel proper.

She explored, curious about the sorts of species that would congregate on the Citadel. Next door she found the Elcor and Volus diplomats, and spoke to them at length about their jobs and lives. She could almost feel the impatience coming off Williams, but at least Alenko seemed to be somewhat interested as well. When she was finished she led them down into the concourse, wondering whether she should try looking for the consort one of the elcor had mentioned. Unfortunately, Udina had been very specific about their visit to the council first, so she activated the map on her omni tool and found the location.

She did a quick sweep of the rest of the map as well, wondering quite how big the Citadel was. According to her codex there were millions of beings who lived in each of the arms, and then they had the place she stood in now. It seemed insane, to think that something quite as vast existed out in the middle of a nebula, but she had to admit, it made for a pretty defensible position if raiders ever came knocking.

Closing the map she led her team over to the council chambers, largely ignoring the conversations of the people around her. Stepping into the elevator she sighed, the top of the tower looked like it was almost a mile away. This was going to be a long ride.

Reaching the top was a relief, even with Williams and Alenko chatting to pass the time it had been just as she feared. Hopefully she wouldn't need to ride too many similar elevators in the Citadel, or they might just have a boredom related shooting spree on their hands. Leading her team out and away from the annoying musak they walked into a C-Sec officer arguing with his superior. he introduced himself as Garrus Vakarian, and apologised for not finding anything to pin down the rogue SPECTRE.

Shepard found herself liking him, he was clearly feeling stifled by his job, something she was coming to understand, what with Udina barking at her. The walk to the council chamber didn't take long, and all around she could hear diplomats arguing about Council seats. It seemed like opinion was against the humans still, just as she had been warned by Anderson and Nihlus. For the first time she considered whether the ramifications of bringing down a Turian SPECTRE wouldn't be quite as beneficial for humans as she had hoped.

The captain was waiting for her, and led her straight up to where Udina was making his case. The council weren't listening to him, and Saren himself was there in hologram form. She growled a little when she saw him. He was directly insulting them, and the council didn't even seem to care. She frowned at that. There was evidence, even if it might not have been foolproof, but they weren't even considering their concern.

Maybe the SPECTREs really were as dangerous as everyone said. The council wouldn't even consider the possibility, she needed to do something, and fast, before humans took the fall for holding pointless meetings. She spoke with Anderson and Udina about places they could find evidence. It also turned out that Anderson had ties with Saren. She would need to investigate, but the first priority was getting hold of the evidence. It seemed to her that talking to Barla Von would be a better idea than Harkin.

Along the way back to the Citadel she bumped into a salarian who was scanning one of the strange insectoid creatures she had seen around. He told her that they were called the Keepers, and apparently no one monitored them. It seemed like a good idea, and it would mean a few extra credits, something she wasn't too proud to pass up on. Adding a note to her personal journal, she moved on, heading back to the elevator.

She had the feeling it was going to be a long day.

Back in the elevator Williams and Alenko carried on talking, but this time she agreed with what they were saying. There had been evidence against Saren, no matter how slim, and to dismiss the idea entirely because he was one of their best seemed impossibly narrow minded. _Every time I start thinking they're so alien, they do something to remind me how human they are,_ She mused, heading out into the concourse.

Barla Von was easy enough to find once she's asked one of the VIs for assistance. Next door to a Hanar owned emporium was a small and bare room, only a desk, some computer banks, and one volus standing behind the desk, his head barely peering over the top of it. She walked right up to him but before she could start talking he had spotted her.

"What's this, one of the earth clan, ah, very famous one yes, you are the one called Shepard, the tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuse is truly remarkable. I'm amazed each time I hear it"

She frowned, not only did he know more than she would have expected, but he had brought up Akuse as well. It was like a bad stain on her armour, everyone felt an immediate need to comment on it. "You've got me at a disadvantage here." She kept her tone level; there was no reason to antagonise him.

"Forgive me earth clan, my name is Barla Von, my job makes it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial advisor to many important clients here on the citadel, when someone as important as yourself arrives on the station, I take notice." As he said the last part he seemed to draw himself up a little, apparently being a financial advisor was something important.

Of course, it could be his other line of work, "I heard you work for the Shadow Broker, do you have any information about Saren?"

"You're very blunt Shepard," She could almost hear a smile behind his visor, the sort of smile of someone who is about to make a very good deal for himself, "But you're right I am an agent for the Shadow Broker and I do know something about Saren."

"I hear your information can be expensive."

"Normally this information would cost a small fortune, but these are exceptional circumstances, so I am going to give it to you for free. "

Williams voiced her concern before Shepard could, "What's the catch?"

The volus' tone turned irritable. "There is no catch, the Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now , they used to do a lot of business, until Saren turned on him."

Shepard suppressed a chuckled, under the surface of the council's denial; it seemed Saren was setting out to make himself enemies, first the C-Sec officer and now this volus, "That's what happens when you deal with a traitor like Saren." She couldn't quite keep the smugness out of her voice this time.

"No matter what you think of Saren he is not stupid. He knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally, turning on him doesn't make sense, not unless something huge was at stake." While the volus didn't seem to want to go into details, warning lights went off in Shepard's head. Something more important could easily be the beacon, and whatever it signified.

The volus was still talking "I don't know the details, but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it, a Krogan mercenary."

"That's not much to go on."

Now he really was irritated, rising up to his full height, his tone becoming imperious, "I just told you that the most famous SPECTRE in the galaxy betrayed the Shadow Broker, quite a bargain, considering the price," He settled back down, "Speak with the krogan if you want to learn more, I hear he was paying a visit to citadel security, if you hurry you might catch him before he leaves the academy."

"Isn't it strange that a krogan would wanna talk with c-sec?"

That smile behind the mask was back again, "Very, however, I doubt the visit was entirely his choice, you'll have to speak with him, if you want to know more."

She felt that talking to Barla Von would yield a lot more information, but if she wanted to catch the krogan she was going to have to hurry. She thanked Von and hurried out of the cramped confines of the room. As the door slid shut behind her she shivered a little, something about Von was deeply unsettling.

Remembering her conversation with one of the elcor diplomats, she stopped by the consort's chambers, and after a short conversation with one of the acolytes, Shepard was shocked to find herself invited in to see the consort. The asari was brief with her, laying out a problem she needed sorted, and the ways she could resolve it.

All through the conversation, Maia found it hard to concentrate on the task she was being given. The consort was stunning, beautiful beyond words, everything about her graceful and poised, but there was something deeper. Shepard found it impossible to look away from the alien, wondering whether it was some sort of effect of the asari's well known mind-link abilities, or whether the answer was much more mundane.

Leaving the consort chambers, Shepard allowed herself another thought, something less cryptic. _It has been a long time._

Actually, she hadn't ever really engaging in a significant romance. Back on Mindoir she had only just realised her own sexuality when the raiders hit, and even after she had joined the Alliance and begun to pull herself back together again, it had been the one aspect of her life she left untouched.

But still, seeing the consort had awakened something in her, even if she wasn't attracted to the asari herself. Seeing Barla Von had been disturbing in a detached professional kind of way, but as she led the way back over the lake to the wards access, she had to admit that seeing the consort had disturbed her in quite another way.

The elevator to C-Sec was easy enough to locate, but part of her wished there were some stairs somewhere. She didn't know quite how far away the wards were from the citadel, but taking another lengthy elevator trip was not high on her to-do list. Sighing, she stepped in and closed her eyes as the muzak washed over her. On the way down they were able to listen to a news report about Eden prime, and how colonial recruitment and backing was already dropping

_That was fast_, She wondered, _I'd wonder if someone was leaking the information, if I was paranoid._

Down in C-Sec, the krogan was easy to find, he was the only figure surrounded by armed C-Sec agents, but still threatening them. Shepard caught some of the conversation, and then the krogan was striding over to her. She outlined what she wanted, something telling her that directness was going to be the most help with this krogan.

Sure enough, he seemed to be keen on a team-up in order to catch his target, but it was the quarian who Shepard was interested in. Information on Saren and the geth, and a quarian would be a reliable source of tech information. Alenko had it right; this was the break they had been after. Williams quickly reminded her about Garrus, and Shepard had to agree, Wrex knew where he was as well. Everything seemed to be coming together with ease.

Wrex went on to Chora's Den while she led Alenko and Williams out into the wards proper. The medical bay was clearly signposted, making it a simple task to reach their destination. She opened the door, and was met with a scene straight out of a police drama. The turian was crouched behind a low wall in the clinic, _how did he get there without anyone spotting him?_ She wondered; while a couple of thugs were threatening the doctor.

The thugs might not have noticed the hulking alien, but they noticed the three Alliance marines, and were quick to round on her, one of them grabbing the doctor as a human shield. Shepard hissed under her breath, unwilling to risk a civilian. Garrus apparently had no such reservations, and leaped out to fire a single bolt right between the eyes of the thug holding the doctor.

A brief but pitched firefight ensued, at the end of which the doctor, the cop, and the three marines were still standing. Shepard marched right up to the Turian Officer, her anger at his recklessness overcoming her thoughts on professionalism. "What were you thinking, you could have hit the hostage!"

He recoiled a little, "There wasn't time to think I just reacted," He stammered a little and turned to the doctor, "Doctor Michele, are you hurt?"

She seemed okay, and shook her head, "No, I'm okay; thanks to you, all of you."

There wasn't time to check if she was just saying that, Shepard needed information, "I know those men threatened you, but if you tell us who they work for we can protect you."

She nodded, "They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

Alenko looked at her, "Just like Wrex told us commander." Under other circumstances she would have commented on his astonishing ability to point out the obvious, but Garrus was already talking.

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth, there's no way the council can ignore this!"

Shepard wasn't so sure, but once again she felt like she needed to put on a determined front for her people, "Time we paid Fist a visit." She tried to put as much menace into her words as she could.

Garrus was practically twitching he was so excited, "This is your show Shepard, but I want to bring saren down as much as you do, I'm coming with you."

She frowned, "You're a turian, why do you want to bring him down?" Turians were legendary for their comradeship, or at least, that was how they seemed from the outside.

The fringe on her forehead flared up, "I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation but I knew what was really going on," His voice was getting louder and louder, the emotion coming through clear on the translator, "Saren is a traitor to the council and a disgrace t my people!"

It might not have been enough for the council, but it was enough for her. "Welcome aboard Garrus"

She assumed that what he did next was smiling. It looked a lot like he was going to take a bite out of something, "Fist is going to be waiting for us, when we hit him, we better hit him hard."

She nodded, "We need to get going then."

**AN:-** So my problem, such as it is, in writing this series is that I don't want to just be copy-pasting huge sections of dialogue (or writing them out by hand as the game is progressing, which at least tests my typing speed if nothing else), but on the other hand I don't want to spend all my time trying to convey that they're having a conversation without having the conversation. I think for the time being I'm going to stick to this sort of style, the important conversations get typed up, the others get alluded to and I only convey the gist.

This will also get easier as I go through the game, since a lot of the side quests won't be followed, just discussed later by the crew.

And for an idead of what's coming up: The main body of this story will be about the characters and how they develop, and the majority of that is going to be done through conversations held post-mission around the big dinner table in the Normandy's main room (where Kaiden works, the med bay on one side and the Captain's quarters on the other) It'll be a real opportunity for me to get all the characters together and just have them bounce off each other, and a lot of how the side-quests went will be cleared up through these conversations. This will also let me write my own dialogue, reference back to the game, but not feel hemmed in by having to copy out everything they say. (Bioware puts like six novels worth of text into these games, and there's no way I'm copying that up.)

In other news, I finally caved in and hooked my 360 back up to XBox live, and am now the proud owner of all the ME and ME 2 DLC. Of course, I'm also the owner of all the L4D and Fallout 3 DLC, so it's cutting into my Mass Effect time. Oops/


	3. Chapter 2: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

**AN:- **This one took way too long to write, but it's finally done. I hope to get another chapter done maybe even by the end of today or tomorrow if possible (I'm off to go and see Twelfth Night now but it isn't too long a play). We're getting closer to the point where I will feel I can legitimately start writing original stuff, so for now enjoy the action of an assault on Chora's Den.

**Chapter Two: Tali Zorah nar'Rayya**

They made for Chora's Den, Garrus leading the way, clearly at home in the underbelly of the Citadel. They dashed through the market and out onto a bridge overlooked the bottom of the wards, shuttles whipping past beneath them. Across the way two mercenaries opened fire, the slugs peppering their shields. Shepard crouched down behind the cover of a guardrail, her squad following suit. Opening up her HUD Shepard was surprised to see another blue dot moving round to flank the mercs.

She toggled the in-squad mic, "Fire on their positions!" She roared, unfolding her assault rifle and bracing it against her cover. All marines had to have some training in it, and if the blue dot was who she thought it was, then sheer quantity of fire was going to be more valuable than actual aiming. The others followed suit, Alenko twitching with every burst from the rifle. Williams stood and unleashed a couple of aimed bursts, but had to duck down again when the mercs took her shields down.

There were two enormous blasts from the position of the blue dot and the mercs winked out of existence. Shepard stuck her head up and saw Wrex waving her forward. "Everyone into the club, follow the krogan."

Inside Fist's gang were ready for them, deeply entrenched and pouring thousands of slugs into the doorframe. None of them had the armour to stand up to a continuous assault like that. While Williams and Garrus kept up the covering fire she equipped her sniper rifle. It was close quarters, but if she had a moment to breathe it wouldn't matter. Next to her Alenko was glowing blue, and a shimmering barrier had appeared a few feet in front of them.

Sighting through the shield she took aim at one particular merc who was trying to take out Wrex, hidden behind a chair that was far too small to cover him. Glancing over to Alenko she was alarmed to see the LT was sweating heavily, his skin nearly grey. He saw her looking and grimaced, trying to put more into the shield.

"Drop the field Alenko, we need to get in there and help Wrex."

He nodded and the shield flickered away, leaving her free to drop two of the mercs and send another rushing for cover. Her rifle pinged as the heat sink overloaded, but it was more than enough for her team. Wrex body slammed an opponent into a wall with a crack everyone heard, and Garrus vaulted a desk to club another merc to the ground.

_Someone should tell those two that they're holding guns._ Shepard lamented as she took aim on a merc who had decided to take position on top of the bar. As he dropped she checked her HUD and found that all the red dots were down. She pulled Alenko back to his feet and they stepped into the club, the door cycling shut behind them.

"Good work everyone, secure this position and prepare to move out," She lowered her voice, "You okay Kaiden?"

He nodded, "Shields take it out of me," His voice was rough. She handed him a canteen and waited while he drained it.

"You stay here, guard that entrance, no one comes in, no one goes out, can you handle that?"

He nodded, raising his pistol and shaking some of the sweat from his eyes. She drew her own pistol and jogged over to where Garrus was unlocking the door to the warehouse. With a curse the translator didn't pick up on he opened it in a shower of sparks, revealing two warehouse workers. At the sight of a full grown krogan in battle armour they whimpered and dropped their guns, hands raised about as high as they could go.

"Get out of here," Shepard told them, already brushing past and heading for Fist's office. She sent a quick radio signal back to Alenko to let them out, then focused on the next obstacle, two autoturrets turning their cover into so much metal filings.

Setting the current on her omnitool to overload she blew one turret while Garrus took the other, leaving Williams and Wrex free to charge in and blow the things up. Fist was down, shrapnel in his knee and Wrex's gun against his head.

"Wait, don't kill me I surrender!"

Shepard puled her own gun up as a show of force, "Where's the quarian?"

"She's not here I don't know where she is that's the truth." Now he wasn't in imminent danger of death Fist seemed already more relaxed.

"He's lying," Williams declared.

"You'd better start explaining before I lose my temper," She growled, Wrex nudging him in the side of the head with the rifle.

"The quarian isn't here said she'd only deal with the shadow broker himself."

Next to her Garrus shook his head, "Impossible, the shadow broker only works through his agents."

Fist stood, favouring his leg, and trying to avoid getting poked in the head any more, "Nobody meets the shadow broker, ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up, but when she shows up it'll be Saren's men waiting for her." He sounded smug about it, far too smug.

She stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar, tipping him off balance so he was forced to stand on his wounded leg, "Give me the location now."

His bravado disappeared, "Here on the wards the back alley by the markets, she's supposed to meet them right now, you can make it if you hurry."

Wrex looked like he was about to pull the trigger when a burst of gunfire came from inside the club, and Alenko's comm light blinked a warning. "Wrex, Ashley, go deal with that." Shepard ordered, and the two soldiers hurried off. She turned back to the crime boss, "Am I supposed to just forget your part in all this?"

He held up his hands, "Hey I came clean, I told you about the meeting. Besides I got my own problems now, the shadow broker wants me dead I have to disappear, Forget about me, I'm a ghost!"

She frowned, but so far everyone she had spoken to seemed to consider crossing the Shadow Broker to be a death sentence. "You're not my concern."

"Don't worry you'll never see me again." He rushed through a concealed door she hadn't noticed before, leaving her free to lead Garrus back out to the bar, where the squad had already succeeded in taking out the mercs.

"We've gotta get to the quarian now," She told them, "Garrus, you know the way better than we do." He nodded and sprinted out back onto the walkway.

It wasn't far but Shepard couldn't help pushing everyone faster, terrified they were going to be late. They arrived at the alley just in time to hear a translated turian voice.

"Did you bring it?"

The reply was clearly from a young woman, very frightened, "Where's the shadow broker, where's Fist?"

"They'll be here, where's the evidence?" Next to her, Wrex and Garrus were already drawing rifles.

"No way, the deal's off" There was real fire in the voice, and as they crested the stairs they saw a quarian fleeing for cover as three assassins opened fire. Garrus stopped at the top of the stairs aiming and firing in one smooth motion, the bullet slamming clean through the skull of the turian contact. Shepard whistled as she drew her own pistol and shot the rifle out of another assassin's hands. A shot like that with an assault rifle wasn't easy, she didn't think she could make it.

Wrex opted for a more direct approach, unloading an entire heat sink's worth of ammo at the third assassin, joined by Williams. The barrage only lasted for a second but at the end of it there was only a red smear and a hole eaten out of the bulkhead. Shepard finished off her assassin with a double chest tap and a head shot.

They walked down the stairs to the quarian, who was shaking and stepping randomly amongst the carnage. "Fist set me up, I knew I couldn't trust him."

"Were you hurt in the fight?" Shepard hadn't had a chance to see what she'd done after the initial shots.

Her tone turned dry, "I know how to look after myself, not that I don't appreciate the help, who are you?"

"My name's Shepard I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor."

The quarian nodded, "Then I can help you, but not here, we need to go somewhere safe."

Williams finished examining the dead turian and looked up, "The ambassador's office, he'll wanna see this anyway."

As they all piled in for another interminably long elevator ride Williams turned to Garrus, "That was a hell of a shot, where'd you pick up that kind of skill?"

"Turian military academy, they go to some pains to make sure we're... well suited to life outside the home world."

Wrex grunted, "Well suited or not, that wouldn't be nearly enough to take down a krogan."

Garrus was quick on the response, "Yes, I've seen some examples of krogan durability. Usually they test it by getting too far into situations that require a more, delicate touch."

Shepard ignored the inter-species sniping contest behind her and stepped up behind the quarian, who was shaking in the corner of the elevator, "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, just the quiet I still haven't gotten used to it..."

Shepard frowned, glancing back at the two other aliens, who actually had their guns out and were comparing them now. It was hardly quiet. "What do you..." She didn't get to finish, as the elevator opened out onto a band of C-Sec officers.

"You're not making my life easy Shepard." Getting frog-marched to the ambassador's office had turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. Seeing Wrex get tasered for talking back was all kinds of hilarious, and Garrus knowing half their escort took away any presence of menace they might have been trying for.

Sadly, Udina was not happy, "Fire-fights in the wards an all out assault on Chora's Den do you know how many..." He finally turned around, and Shepard got the joy of seeing his face struggling to comprehend the mash up of aliens who were now in his office, "Who's this, a quarian, a krogan, a turian? What the hell are you playing at Shepard?"

"Making your day ambassador, she has information linking Saren to the geth."

"Really," It would have been hard for the ambassador to reach a hi9gher level of condescension, but he was certainly trying for it. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning miss..."

"My name is Tali, Tali Zorah nar Rayya".

"We don't see many quarians here, why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood"

Shepard subtly touched a key and accessed her codex, bringing up the text on Quarian society. The abridged version was that young Quarian's left the flotilla in search of items to bring back to their ships. _How delightfully vague._

"What kinds of things do you look for?"

"It could be resources, or some sort of useful technology, or knowledge." Talking about her society, Tali seemed to be a lot more cheerful than she had been in the elevator, "Through our pilgrimage we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources."

"Tell us what you found."

"During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the veil, I was curious, I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world, then I waited for one to become separated from its unit, I disabled it and removed its memory core"

Anderson frowned, "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died some kind of defence mechanism."

Tali was quick to respond, "My people created the geth, if you're quick, careful, and lucky small caches of data can sometime be saved most of the core was wiped clean but I salvaged something from its archive memory."

She toggled her own omni tool, a considerably older model than Shepard's, and started an audio playback, "Eden prime was a major victory, the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

The captain was wearing a predatory smile, "That's Saren's voice, this proves he was involved in the attack."

Tali nodded, "I have more, picture files, ship movements, all of it pointing to Saren being on Eden Prime during the attack, and coming in contact with the beacon."

Shepard was more concerned about another part of the message, "He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the conduit, any idea what that means?"

"The conduit must have something to do with the beacon, maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology, like a weapon."

"Wait there's more," Tali flicked the omni tool again, and spoke over Saren's voice. "Saren wasn't working alone."

A cold female voice spoke, one that sent shivers down Shepard's spine, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Udina was at least looking slightly interested now, "I don't recognise that other voice, the one talking about reapers."

"Are they some kind of new alien species?" Shepard had never heard the name before.

Tali was there with an answer again, "According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper advanced machine race that existed fifty thousand years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction and then they vanished." Seeming to realise how melodramatic that sounded, Tali's voice got very small and quiet, "At least, that's what the geth believe."

"Sounds a little farfetched."

Despite Udina's scepticism, Shepard was suddenly confident, "The vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now, I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." It all seemed to make sense.

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non organic life and they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." Every word out of Tali's mouth seemed to be bringing more hard work and trouble their way.

"The council is just going to love this." Udina deadpanned.

Shepard mentally shrugged, it was time to make herself unpopular again, "The Reapers are a threat to every world in citadel space, we have to tell them."

Anderson was still fixated on the audio file, "No matter what they think about the rest of this, those memory archives prove Saren's a traitor."

Udina finally conceded the point, "The captain's right, we need to present this to the council right away."

"What about her, the quarian?" Williams' tone was on the border of unprofessional, not likely to get her written up by official guidelines, but enough for Shepard to have a little chat with her later.

Not that Tali seemed incapable of defending herself, "My name is Tali," She growled at the Gunnery Chief. She directed her words to Shepard, "You saw me in the ally commander, you know what I can do."

"Thought you were on your pilgrimage?" Shepard was having a think, and as long as Tali had a good answer, there was no reason she shouldn't add another member to her developing squad.

"The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good, what does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy, my pilgrimage can wait."

She sounded a lot like a teenager getting her first taste of something important, which actually didn't sound that far from the truth, "I'll take all the help I can get."

"Thanks you won't regret this."

"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the council, take a few minutes to collect yourself then meet us in the tower."

Udina let himself out, leaving the makeshift squad together.

"No offence commander but I'd rather not have another run in with the council if it's all the same to you." Williams said quickly. Even as she said it she glanced towards the aliens, who were standing a step away from the marines. Shepard didn't have time to deal with the problem right then and there.

"Fine, you stay here, and Alenko can stay with you. He needs to recharge after the assault on Chora's Den." It looked like the LT was going to protest, but Shepard cut him off, "You're in no fit state to go running around the Citadel, you can barely stand as it is."

She turned to the aliens, "Wrex, I don't know about your feelings for this but I'd rather not face the council with a krogan who just shot up half the lower wards. It just seems like it's asking for trouble."

He nodded, "Never was one for politics."

"Garrus? You know this place better than any of us, and I would like to have a quick look around the wards, without a bunch of mercenaries shooting at us if possible."

He nodded, "I'd be happy to show you the sights Shepard, that's if you're okay being seen with a C-Sec officer. We're not the most popular people in the wards."

She smiled at that, "Fine by me. Tali? I guess you haven't seen too much of the good side of the Citadel?"

The quarian shook her head, "If it's okay with you, I'd like to tag along. I suspect quarians are even less regarded than C-Sec officers out here, it would be nice to have some validation, so at least the shopkeepers won't look at me like I'm a thief."

"It's settled then." Shepard glanced over to where Williams was making herself comfortable by cleaning her assault rifle, eyeing Wrex who was leaning up against a wall. "Don't kill each other or break anything while I'm gone."

The two of them nodded, and from his position on one of the reclining chairs Kaiden waved at her.

"Let's move." Shepard told her now three man squad.

**AN:-** Lots of talking chapter here. About twenty minutes of gameplay translates into 3000 words, urgh. And I had to type all of the conversations too. So in fact 20 minutes of gameplay just translated into four hours of work. URGH. I hope you enjoy it though, I tried my hardest to come up with reasons for why they might separate, but also as I said I'd try and include all of them in situations I feel they would include all of them.

Please read and review, offer insights or ways you think I could make the reading experience a little easier. Or you know, just say things that you liked about the story.

Next chapter 'SPECTRE' will be up as shortly as possible, and will also hopefully include picking up Liari T'soni, so I can start this crazy thing we call romance off as well. (I would be more subtle about it, but I've already listed this story as a Shepard/Liari, so what the hey.)


	4. Chapter 3: SPECTRE

**AN:- **A lot of these chapter names are pretty obvious. I make up for it with the next one, which is so pseudo philosophical it's already making me choke. I hope you enjoy this next chapter, which marks for a while the end of the rigidly-sticking-to-conversations and canon. The aim was to get Shepard off the citadel by the end of this chapter.

**Chapter Three: SPECTRE**

Right outside the ambassador's office they were met by a man named Samesh Bhatia, who wanted to know if Shepard could help him to get the body of his wife back from the Alliance Military Intelligence. She understood his plight; if someone had refused her the bodies of her squadron then she would have gone through hell to get them back. she assured him she would do everything she could, and went up to the ambassadorial lounge to confront the clerk.

Bosker was up front about the problem, and Shepard couldn't help but sympathise. Thoughts of Akuse came back to haunt her. If it meant that no one else would have to go through what she had, she would have gladly given even her own life and body to aid that cause. She had seen what the geth did on Eden Prime, and if the body of one woman meant that they could save marines, it was a price that had to be paid, and Shepard felt certain that Ms Bhatia would have seen it the same way.

She went back down to Samesh Bhatia, laying it all out for him. He was angry, though she knew it wasn't at her, and it didn't take much to persuade him. She got the feeling he had just been looking for someone who would talk to him honestly. As he walked away though, she couldn't help the cold feeling in her gut that perhaps there hadn't been a right answer. If the tests were useless, what had she gained?

_It's the price we all pay,_ she thought grimly, leading a mercifully silent Garrus and Tali to the Citadel.

In the elevator she turned to Garrus, "So what's your story?"

"Excuse me?"

"I saw you in action in the ally, that was a hell of a shot you managed, and I doubt even the Turian military trains you that hard."

He was taken aback by the questions, "I, look, it's always been a skill of mine, and it's only got better with practice, now can we talk about something else?"

She left him alone, glad he had shared at least that much. Tali was off in her own little world, staring out of the elevator at the flashing scenes barely visible outside. The doors opened out onto the concourse and they hurried quickly to the Council.

They arrived just as Udina was finishing laying out the evidence, "You wanted proof, there it is."

The turian was nodding, "This evidence is irrefutable ambassador, Saren will be stripped of his spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

Next to him, the asari was looking concerned, "I recognise the other voice, the one speaking with Saren; Matriarch Benezia."

Shepard didn't recognise the name, "Who's she?"

"Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience they serve as guides and mentors to my people Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she has many followers. She will make a powerful ally for Saren"

The salarian councillor unfolded his arms and stepped forward, "I'm more interested in the reapers, what do you know about them?"

Anderson took over, stepping forward to talk, "Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core. The reapers were an ancient race of machine that wiped out the Protheans, then they vanished."

Shepard presented the next bit of information, "The geth believe the reapers are gods and saren is the prophet for their return."

"We believe the conduit is the key to bringing them back saren's searching for it, that's why he attacked eden prime."

"Do we even know what this conduit is?" The salarian councillor didn't sound convinced.

Shepard understood his need for answers, but it wasn't something she thought needed that much clarification, "Saren thinks it can bring back the reapers, that's about enough."

"Listen to what you're saying, Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible it has to be, where did the reapers go, why did they vanish, how come we've found no trace of their existence. If they were real we'd have found something." Even through the translators the turian's voice dripped sarcasm.

Shepard was getting more and more frustrated with their obstructive attitude, even presented with evidence their course of action was to do nothing, "I tried to warn you about Saren and you refused to face the truth, don't make the same mistake again."

The asari was trying hard to be the voice of reason between all of their conflicting opinions and voices, "This is different, you proved Saren betrayed the council, we all know he's using the geth to search for the conduit, but we don't really know why."

She had managed to win over the salarian at least, "The reapers are obviously just a myth commander, a convenient lie to cover up Saren's true purpose a legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

"Fifty thousand years ago the reapers wiped out all galactic civilisation, if Saren finds the conduit it will happen again" She had to convinced them somehow.

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life he no longer has the rights or resources of a spectre, the council has stripped him of his position."

Udina was just as aggravated as she was, "That is not good enough, you know he's hiding somewhere in the traverse, send your fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one man."

"A citadel fleet could secure the entire region keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies." Shepard could already guess what the argument was going to be.

Sure enough, the turian didn't disappoint, "Or it could trigger a war with the terminus systems, we won't be dragged into a galactic conflict over a few dozen human colonies."

She couldn't help it, she snapped at them, "Every time humanity asks for help you ignore us."

"Shepard's right, I'm sick of this council and it's anti-human bull..."

"Ambassador," The asari cut in qwuickly before he could finish his abuse, "There is another solution, a way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies." As she said it she was looking over to the turian councillor.

"No, it's too soon, humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the SPECTRES!"

Shepard spotted the way out, and while she felt dirty for playing the politics card it was the only language anyone gathered there seemed to understand. "You don't have to send a fleet into the traverse, and the ambassador gets his human SPECTRE, everybody's happy."

Finally, the turian nodded. The three council member stepped forward and placed their hands on the terminals in front of them. "Commander Shepard, step forward. It is the decision of the council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the special tactics and reconnaissance branch of the citadel."

The salrian had the next lines, "Spectres are not trained or chosen, individuals forged from the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

The rote passed back to the asari, "Spectres are an ideal a symbol the embodiment of courage determination and self reliance they are the right hand of the council instruments of our will."

Finally the turian spoke, sounding like the words were being forced from him under torture, "Spectres bear a great burden, they are protectors of galactic peace both our first and last line of defence the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human spectre, commander this is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"I'm honoured councillor." She knew when to be gracious.

After that it was all business, first getting the information needed from the council, and then talking to Anderson and Udina about the logistics of her becoming a SPECTRE properly.

Once all the ritual and planning was done she walked back over to Tali and Garrus, "I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful, he didn't even thank you."

"Until I find Saren I haven't done anything, come on."

Garrus nodded, "Right behind you Shepard."

She didn't lead them to the docking bay, instead she took them down to the market, she had promised Tali a trip and she was going to deliver on that. They had barely taken a few steps into the market when someone was yelling her name. She spotted a young woman leaning up against a pillar, waving at her. "I take it this stepping into situations is a habit of yours commander?" Garrus remarked snidely as they walked over to her.

The woman was a journalist by the name of Emily Wong, who went to some lengths to outline a problem without actually stating anything.

Eventually Shepard got bored of dancing round the issue, "What do you need?"

"I've been hunting for evidence of organised crime on the citadel but there's places I can't go, I was hoping you might share anything you find during your own investigation. I can make it worth your time."

When she was blunt, she was blunt. Shepard frowned at her, "How do you know that my investigation is going to turn up something you need?"

"You wouldn't be investigating if it weren't something big, and if it's big, it's something I'd like to her about." That much was obvious, and she was a journalist, so it was no surprise she knew what Shepard was up to.

She had grabbed some disks when they left Fist's office anyway, intending to have them decrypted later, but she didn't quite see what she could do with them that Emily wouldn't. "These OSDs might have the information you're looking for," She handed them over.

The woman's face lit up, revealing just how young she really was, "You've got Fists files? this could be even bigger than I'd hoped, here commander, for your trouble." She transferred some credits into Shepard's account.

"What would you say to an interview when my investigations over?"

"You'd talk to me before you talk to anyone else? Exclusive?"

Shepard nodded, she liked the look of Emily Wong, and it might be a good idea to get what she could of the story out there. The journalist was practically bouncing as she walked off. "Nice Shepard, I suppose we'll get copies of the broadcast, you know, for historical purposes?" Tali snarked at her.

"Laugh it up Tali, I'm going to tell them you're the hero of this whole thing."

Their next stop was Chora's Den, looking for the general the consort had mentioned, having the wisdom of the consort might not be worth anything, but Shepard wasn't willing to let the matter pass her by while she had some real authority to do something about it.

Septimus was a disgrace, but at least Garrus was there to yell at him instead of Shepard being forced to. She was starting to get the trick of talking to turians thought, and an appeal to honour pulled him in line instantly, and again it didn't hurt to have Garrus there to add a little bite to her words. He also gave her the answer to her problem with the Elcor diplomat. She chuckled to herself a little as Septimus walked off. Sometimes the answers were a little too easy to find.

_No one who spent any time around any of these other species would be able to think of them as alien,_ She lead the team back out of the bar, heading for the Consort's chambers, _They're more human than we are sometimes._

They went into the upper markets, where someone else was yelling for her. She smiled at Tali, "You go have a poke around the stories, I'll deal with this, whatever it is." She looked up to Garrus, "You stay with her."

It turned out to be a young man, dressed in C-Sec blue, with a shock of white-blonde hair, as she stepped over he started gushing, "You're Commander Shepard, the hero of Eden Prime. I am so honoured to meet you."

She shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, and you are?"

"My name's Conrad, Conrad Verner. They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime."

She smiled at him, but inside she was wondering quite what his deal was. He seemed to be a little too enthusiastic about her recent military record," I spent most of my time just trying to stay alive and help- the colonists."

He nodded as if he was listening, "Hey I know you're probably busy but do you have time for a quick autograph?"

Hopefully that was all he wanted, and it would be a quick way to make him go away, "Anything for a fan here."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it, my wife is going to be so impressed, I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on earth I'd love to buy you a drink." He hurried off, presumably to the academy, leaving her shaking her head at the encounter. There were some real weirdos on the Citadel.

As she came back to her squad Garrus tilted his head at her, "Getting into more situations commander?"

"Just a fan."

"Oh, so you have fans."

"What's Tali doing?"

"Haggling." Garrus gestured to where the quarian was standing talking to a volus shopkeeper, waving her arms while he kept his crossed over his chest. "I don't know whether she's really angry, or having the time of her life."

Shepard walked over, "Problem Tali?"

"This bosh'tet volus is charging at a ridiculous price for his suit mods."

"Watch your tone clanless or I will be forced to raise them higher."

"Need any help?"

"I have this Shepard."

Sensing that there was some ancient trader/customer dispute at play here, Shepard nodded, "I'll over with Garrus, come see us when you're done."

"Well?" Garrus asked as she came back.

"She's clearly having the time of her life. And so's the volus, let's leave them to it for a little while." Brushing past the turian, she went to lean on a guardrail overlooking the wards, in all their glory, and the Serpent Nebula behind them.

"You have an odd sense of priorities Shepard."

"It's her first time on the Citadel, and she's not being chased by bloodthirsty assassins anymore. I think she's earned a little R&R."

"And the thought of Saren doesn't bother you?" He looked like he was thinking about leaning, but settled for standing ramrod straight next to her, like a seven foot body guard with scales.

"Of course it does, but I'm not going to let it take all the fun out of life." The expression on his face might have been frowning, if she understood turain expressions enough to read it. "So what's your next move Garrus? You coming with us?"

He nodded, "I think I will, it seems like it's your mission and your crew now, so as long as you'll have me, I'm your man."

"Good to hear it, I hope I prove an adequate commander."

"You didn't earn that rank off the back of nothing I presume."

"You presume right, but I'm not sure what I did to earn it is something to brag about."

"Feel like sharing?"

"You wouldn't share about your training, so no, you don't get my life story, I'm going to dangle it in front of you like a carrot on a stick."

"I don't get the expression."

"It's a human thing, don't worry."

Tali was coming back to them, a slight spring in her step as she toggled through some displays on her omni tool. "A good deal." She confirmed.

"You know I could probably have paid for whatever it was for you." Shepard hoped that Tali would get that she was joking and after a moment the quarian gave an odd musical sound that Shepard took for laughing.

"But where would be the fun? And you would lose all your credits that way to bosh'tet shop owners." As she said it Tali turned and waved to the volus, who waved back, clearly just as cheerful.

"Well I don't know about your flotilla, but you're definitely going to be useful for me to keep around."

Any human would have bristled at the statement, the implication that you were only being kept around to be useful, but Tali averted her visor and waved briefly at the air. When she spoke it was with distinct embarrassment. "That's all I hope for."

Maybe shepard was getting the hang of talking to her new crewmates after all.

In the elevator on the way up she heard news that already Emily Wong was making good use of the information she had been given. _Girl works fast, I'll give her that. Best she's going to be anchor for the whole Citadel in a few years._

She led the way over to the Council chambers, Tali remarking that there had once been a quarian diplomat, but that soon changed after the geth incident. "It's been three thousand years, surely people don't still bear that great a grudge?"

"What would the relatives of Eden Prime say?" Tali replied quietly.

"It's human nature to want a scape goat," She admitted, "But that doesn't make it acceptable to treat an entire race like second class citizens."

"Sometimes it is easier this way, makes it easier to slip under the radar, and I think the Admiralty would prefer it this way."

"Admiralty?" Shepard knew nearly nothing about quarian society, no one did.

"I will explain later, it is a complicated story."

The elcor diplomat was delighted to hear that his data was now safe, or at least, that was the emotion he was _saying_ he was. The elcor ambassador was certainly grateful, and Shepard had another short chat, before she excused herself and headed for the consort's chambers.

"I've never actually been in here before," Garrus remarked as they went inside.

"It's just another set of rooms, and another asari." Shepard couldn't quite make herself believe it, and Garrus clearly picked up on it.

"Indeed, and I suppose _you're _just another human SPECTRE, right?"

"You ever consider not talking sometimes?"

"I tried it once, didn't suit me."

Garrus and Tali waited behind as Shepard went into the consort's chambers. The asari was delighted with her success, and thanked her profusely. Shepard just tried to sound humble enough about it. Too much praise made her edgy.

"I also have one more thing to give you, if you are interested."

"I'd be honoured." _What the hell is she going to do now?_

The consort stepped in close, "I offer a gift of words, an affirmation of who you are and who you will become. I see the sadness behind your eyes; it tells a story that makes me want to weep, pain and loss, but it drives you, makes you strong. That strength is what kept you alive when everyone around you was dying, you alone survived, you will continue to survive.

"This may be who you are, but it is not who you will become it only forms the basis for your future greatness, remember these words when doubt descends commander."

For the first time in a long time, Shepard thought of Akuze, and her memories were bearable, not pleasant, but bearable, "You have quite a gift Sha'ira."

The consort smiled her enigmatic smile and pushed a small trinket into her hands as well.

"What is it?"

"A small mystery, I have never learned it's use or purpose, but I sense it is time for me to pass it on."

Feeling like she was in far over her head, but simultaneously like she was suddenly free of restraints, Shepard thanked the consort and left, saying nothing to Garrus and Tali as they returned to the ambassador's room.

**AN:-** I think there's lot of spelling mistakes in this one. I haven't set my spell checker to ignore any of the words unique to Mass Effect, so whenever I have long conversation moments, like the Council chambers bit, I end up staring at a mass of red squiggly lines, and I have to start digging out which are the real spelling mistakes and which are just names. Since I'm typing as the conversation unfolds on screen, you can imagine there are quite a few mistakes being made.

Remember when I left Williams and Wrex alone in the ambassador's office? In no way is that going to come back and bite Shepard in the ass when the next chapter starts. Heheh.

Next chapter they get off the Citadel and start exploring, and the style may change a bit as I start writing in a lot more crew interaction that I make up of my own head, so I hope everyone still likes it. Again, if you spotted something which needs immediate changing or you think would make the story better plase don't hesitate to point it out. I don't think this product is perfect after all. To people who read the prologue when it was first posted, it's now been updated and rewritten a little to be not quite as rubbish, so you might want to go and check it out.

Next chapter by the weekend, that's my goal. Hopefully another two or three over the weekend as I have some more time off to play the game as well. Might even be finished by next week at this rate. I wish. Please read and review.


	5. Chapter 4: Out Among the Stars

**AN:- **This chapter is much longer than the others. I had the option of cutting it before the final scene, but I want to try and keep the recruitment of Liara all in one chapter. I hope you enjoy this extra-long helping of Mass Effect goodness, as we finally get off the blasted Citadel.

**Chapter Four: Out Among the Stars**

The ambassador's office was a wreck, his deck against the wall and chair's embedded in the ceiling. Williams was pinned up against one wall by a biotic field, and Wrex was being held by another, Alenko standing between them with his arms outstretched and sweat pouring down his face.

"What the hell?" Shepard tapped Alenko on the shoulder and he dropped the fields, needing Garrus to support him and carry him over to the desk, where he lay down with an exhausted sigh. "Does someone want to explain what happened?" Shepard asked, glaring from Wrex to Williams.

"Careful Shepard," Wrex growled, "You don't command me yet."

Shepard fixed him with a look that would have melted steel and stepped right up to him, "If you don't watch yourself Wrex, you'll see exactly how I managed to survive an assault by three Thresher Maws."

He locked eyes with her for a moment, then bowed his head, "Very well Shepard, I will explain."

Williams stepped forward, "Commander, you can't tell me you're going to listen to him before my story?"

"Control yourself Chief or I'll have you up for insubordination." She hadn't exactly ordered them not to smash up the ambassador's office, but she didn't think anyone would argue the charge. Williams clearly agreed, snapping to parade attention. Shepard tried to ignore Garrus' impressed whistle and turned back to Wrex. "You were saying?"

"We had been waiting for several hours when the female decided to start talking to the boy about the Krogan Wars."

Shepard gritted her teeth and repressed a growl. Williams was going to be trouble, and she needed to sort it out before it got out of hand. _A little late for that._ Her subconscious gleefully reminded her.

"And so, being a full grown krogan in control of his temper, I suppose you just let it pass?"

"No krogan can stand by while his race is insulted! She referred to my kind as unfit for the harshness of war! Unsuited to a warrior's life, fit only for mercenaries and bodyguards!"

Sorely tempted to write Williams up anyway, Shepard stalked over to the Gunnery Chief, "Your take chief?"

"I think Wrex may have misinterpreted the banter between myself and the LT."

Shepard frowned, "If that's the best you can come up with it's a pretty poor excuse Williams." She turned back to Wrex, "So you waded right in and blows were exchanged?"

"I stepped forward and challenged her to test her words."

"So Williams, what is the appropriate response for a soldier who realises that her comments have been misinterpreted?"

Williams' jaw could have been carved from stone, "Immediate apology and retraction of the offending words."

"And your response was?"

"To accept the challenge."

"Which was I presume when Alenko stepped in?"

"Not quite," The LT spoke up.

"We exchanged a round of blows," Wrex told her, "And then the boy shoved us apart, that was when you entered."

"And why are the desks and chairs all over the place if only a round of blows was exchanged?"

"That's my fault commander," Alenko was sitting now, "A shield to hold back a krogan takes a lot of force, and that force has blowback for the space around me."

Turning back to the fighters, Shepard really did growl at Williams, "We'll be out on mission within the next few hours, expect that your actions will have consequences."

She turned to Wrex, "And as long as you're still coming with us, I'll deal with you when we're away as well."

"You have strange customs human, do not expect to impose them on me."

"We're going to on a mission on one ship together for the foreseeable future. It could be several months for all I know, and I am not having a ship destroyed because a crew member thought it would be fun to needle her crewmates, or because a squad member responded to such obvious baiting." A wicked smile crossed her lips, "For now, you will shake hands and agree not to fight, on pain of suffering my wrath."

The two grimaced at her, or she assumed Wrex was grimacing, stepped forward and clasped hands in what looked more like a competition of strength than a congenial handshake, but Shepard would take it. "Gather your gear, we're heading for the docking bay at C-Sec."

"What about the ambassador's office?" Tali asked.

Shepard surveyed the chaos, "I think we have more pressing concerns than a simple mess, don't you? Either the keepers will deal with it, or the ambassador can see it as a little extra payment for his human SPECTRE."

She led her team out, not bothering to see whether they were keeping up as she marched out of the offices.

At the docking bay, Anderson and Udina were already waiting by the Normandy. Something about the way they stopped talking as she arrived made Shepard distinctly uncomfortable.

"I've got big news for you Shepard," Udina started in a voice that suggested news of the family death variety, "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now."

Shepard's eyes widened and she turned to stare at Anderson, who merely nodded and folded his arms, "She's quick and quiet, and you now the crew, perfect ship for a SPECTRE. Treat her well commander."

Still reeling from the news, it was all she could do to respond, "I'll take good care of her sir."

"I know you will commander."

She frowned at Udina, who was smiling a little too widely, "I want the truth, why are you stepping down sir?"

"You needed your own ship, a spectre can't answer to anyone but the council, and it's time for me to step down."

"Come clean with me captain, you owe me that much."

He started pacing a little, "I was in your shoes twenty years ago Shepard. They were considering me for the spectres."

"Why didn't you ever mention this?"

"What was I supposed to say, I could have been a spectre but I blew it?" His voice raised, the result of the old scar she was picking at. "I failed commander, it's not something I'm proud of. For now all you need to know is that I was sent on a mission with saren and he made sure the council rejected me." He calmed down, his voice turning bitter, "I had my chance commander, it came and went, now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."

"I won't let you down sir."

He nodded, and got on with the briefing, "Saren's gone, don't even try to find him, but we know what he's after, the conduit. He's got his geth scouring the traverse looking for clues."

Udina checked his omni tool, "We had reports of geth in the Feros system, shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact, and there have been sightings on Noveria."

"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria, maybe you can figure out where the conduit is before he does."

Shepard felt almost like they were getting sidetracked, "The reapers are the real threat."

Udina snorted derisively, "I'm with the council on this one Shepard, I'm not sure they even exist."

Anderson was a little more helpful, "But if they do exist, the conduits the key to bringing them back stop saren from getting the conduit, and we stop the reapers from returning."

"I'll stop him." Shepard assured her old captain.

When Udina spoke, it was much more hesitant, "We have one more lead, Matriarch Benezia, the other voice in that recording, she has a daughter, a scientist who specialises in the Protheans,. We don't know if she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and find her, find what she knows her name's Liara, doctor Liara T'Soni we have reports she was exploring an archaeological dig in one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."

Shepard like the sound of it, getting information from the Matriarch's daughter, or maybe even picking up another squad member, "Sounds like we should head for the Artemis Tau cluster."

"It's your decision commander, you're a spectre now, you don't answer to us."

Udina was quick to rain on the parade, "But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole, you make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up."

She was very tempted to snark at him, but it wouldn't do any good. Udina was someone she had to kill with civility, "I'll try not to make things any harder on you ambassador."

He grumbled some more and left, leaving her to have one final talk with Anderson, who if nothing else was philosophical about the political wrangling that had forced him from his position. He gave her a little more information, and she bade him goodbye, saluting one last time as the airlock to the Normandy cycled shut and she saw him walk back to the elevator.

_Thank you captain, I hope I can make good on your sacrifice._

On board she went up to the cockpit, where Joker was looking down. "I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles and then gets taken down by backroom politics." He looked back to her, "Just watch your back, Commander. If things go bad on this mission, you're next on the chopping block."

Joker's warning didn't help with the uncomfortable feeling in the back of her head, "Captain Anderson should be the one in charge. It's like I'm stealing the ship from him."

"Yeah the Captain got screwed, but it's not like you could have stopped it, no one's blaming you. Everyone on this ship's behind you Commander, hundred percent. Intercom's open, you got anything you wanna say to the crew, now's the time."

Shepard considered the glowing icon on Joker's desk. _I need to be honest with them._ She decided. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders: find Saren before he find the conduit. I won't lie to you crew, this mission is not going to be easy." It was a human crew, she had to say something to make them realise how much was riding on this.

"For too long our species has stood apart from the others, now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy. Time to show them what humans are made of. This began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse, but we know Saren won't stop there. His geth armies aren't going to stay on the far fringes of Citadel space."

She had nothing else she wanted to say, "Humanity needs to do this, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in citadel space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all, we will stop him."

"Well said commander, captain would be proud."

At least Joker was impressed, but words meant nothing without action, "The captain gave up everything so I could have this chance. We can't fail."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

A day in, Shepard sent for Williams. She didn't think that the Gunnery Chief would have had time to calm down after the fight on the Citadel, but in the confines of the ship, her racism was going to become a problem, and it was one that she had to confront bluntly before she spent any time trying to puzzle it out.

She waited until Williams had entered the room, saluted, and was standing at full attention. Leaning back in her chair to observe the Gunnery Chief, she waited for her to ask the question.

"You sent for me commander?"

"I did Williams, we need to have a talk and we need to have it quickly."

"Ma'am?"

"You never served with aliens before, have you Williams?"

"No ma'am."

"And your attitude towards them is less than hospitable I've noticed." The Gunnery Chief stiffened, but didn't respond. "Would you say that you have strong opinions towards aliens?"

Williams' jaw worked furiously, and she finally managed, "My family has a history with aliens."

"Well whatever your family's history is, it can wait. The crew-members on this ship are not responsible for your grievances, and you will treat them as your squad. You may not think it fair, and you are fully entitled to whine about how I am coming down too hard on you, but if I hear about you starting any more fights within the ship you'll be taken off active duty for as long as I see fit." She leaned in across the desk. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, commander."

"Very good." She gestured to the door, "Dismissed, dinner's at 1800, I expect to see you there."

The Chief paused, but nodded and left without another word.

_I need to figure out what's wrong with her, before she jeopardises the whole mission._

Shepard gathered her MRE from the instant-heater and carried it over to the table. Williams was already there, digging in to the meal, and Alenko was halfway through preparing his second. It was fascinating seeing just how much Alenko was able to eat in a single sitting, and he still kept his weight at a reasonable weight, often under the Alliance regulations.

_I don't think I'd like the headaches that come with keeping that figure._ Shepard mused as she dug a spoonful of the meal out.

"Did you even bother checking the package this time?" Williams asked from down the table.

Shepard didn't bother to answer as she spooned the whatever-it-was into her mouth. She might have tasted chicken, but it could just as easily have been wood. "I remember someone in basic told me I'd get used to these one day."

"Not likely," Pressly chimed in from down the table, where he was using his re-inflated bread to scoop up some sauce. "They haven't managed a palatable meal in over three hundred years. And I'd know."

"Service family?" Kaidan asked, finally sitting down with his two meals side by side.

"Food manufacturers," Pressly responded.

Williams snorted into her food, followed by Adams, who leaned back and gave a hearty barking laugh. Shepard smiled too as she ripped off a hunk of her own bread. It was remarkable just how much it sounded like paper when it tore. "So how about you Alenko? Military brat?" Pressly asked when the laughter had died down.

"My father served, but no-one else."

"Williams?"

"Oh come on, like you don't know?"

Shepard frowned. Williams' tone was bitter, and Adams was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Pressly seemed to realise his mistake. "I meant nothing by it, just thought we should get to know each other. Adams and I have been reminiscing about our old war stories. Shepard, I suppose you've got lots of tales."

"Colony brat, I was a farmer 'til I was sixteen, joined the military at eighteen, nothing special."

"Why did you leave the colony?"

"Slavers hit Mindoir, there wasn't much else I could do after that, or wanted to."

There was an uncomfortable silence, "And then Akuze," Adams finally ventured.

She actually managed a smile, which shocked her, "Yeah, I guess there has been something special, I must have the worst luck of any colonial brat in the whole military."

She only got uneasy chuckles, but at least there were some smiles.

"Does anyone mind if I join?" A quiet voice asked from the corner.

"Tali!" Adams sounded delighted, "Glad to have you, come sit by me here."

Tali was carrying a few tubes of something Shepard assumed was her usual food, and she only sat tentatively. No one could have failed to notice the looks she received from Pressly and Williams, but Adams covered up for it brilliantly, seeming genuinely happy to have her there. "Okay, so it's her turn now, isn't it?"

"What are we doing?" The poor engineer sounded terrified.

Alenko told her. "Nothing bad Tali, we're just saying where we came from, our backgrounds, anything special we've done in the past. "

"Oh, well I have done nothing special, no military experience, no special talents."

"Now that ain't true," Adams protested, "You've got a grasp for engines that's second to none, you must have picked that up from somewhere."

Shepard hadn't had much chance to interact with her chief engineer since taking control, and it was fascinating now to see him bringing Tali out of her shell so quickly. The quarian's entire posture changed, she sat straighter and her visor inclined towards people at the table, which was probably the quarian equivalent of eye contact.

"Well, my father was on the Admiralty Board, which is our system of government, so I always had people looking over my shoulder, but I also got to spend more time with the engines of our ships than any other quarian."

"It must be quite a task keeping those things going," Shepard observed, "Most of your ships are three hundred years old."

Tali inclined her head, "It was a hard education. Someone learning to handle an engine may accidentally knock something out of line, and suddenly the whole ship vents oxygen from every available door, so it is not something they teach lightly."

Even Williams was looking impressed now. The lives of hundreds of people had been in Tali's hands whenever she was learning, let alone when she became an actual engineer.

"I don't think I would have liked that pressure on me at BAaT," Alenko said, already on to his second meal. When you had a metabolism like his you didn't waste time caring about taste.

"What's BAaT?" Pressly asked.

"Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training," Garrus' voice was unmistakeable as he came out of the elevator, "Is there room for another?" He asked, gesturing to the table.

Pressly and Williams shot him looks with more heat than a hypergiant star, but Shepard gestured to the empty chair at her side, "Feel free."

"How do you know BAaT?" Alenko asked the minute he was seated.

"BAaT was a mistake for the turians," Garrus had his own food out before him, "We should never have allowed people like **Vyrnnus anywhere near your developing biotics. For what it's worth you have my sympathy for that fiasco."**

"**Could someone explain BaaT to me?" Tali was still confused, apparently the translator was having a tough time with the unknown acronym.**

"**BaaT was where a lot of the human biotics were sent, right after we were discovered," Alenko sighed a little, "It wasn't pleasant. The human scientists didn't know what they were doing, so they called in other species to try and understand the systems. The turian in charge of us was Vyrnnus, and he was... unpleasant. He was cruel, he beat us, and he wasn't afraid to let us know that he despised humans."**

"**Sounds harsh," Williams was avoiding looking at the two aliens.**

"**It wasn't easy, but I survived and I guess that's all that matters."**

"**So Garrus," Shepard turned to the turian next to her, "We've all been sharing our old war stories, time to share yours, what did you do when you were younger?"**

"**I went to national service, the same as every turian, and I served my time. I joined C-Sec because it seemed like a way that I could help people out, serve under colours that meant something."**

"**And they taught you how to shoot like that at C-Sec?" Williams pressed.**

"**Not exactly, but that's a story for another time."**

**The humans shrugged and went back to eating, but Tali was looking around, "Is Wrex not joining us?"**

"**He's still leaning up against that bulkhead; I don't think he's really one for communal dining."**

"**Speaking of," Williams was looking back up again, "What are you two doing here?"**

**Shepard wished she was close enough to cuff Williams round the head for her tone, but neither of the aliens seemed that bothered. Garrus answered first, "I learned a long time ago that if you're going to serve with people for any length of time, you need to get to know them, spend time with them, and mealtimes are a good enough time to start."**

Tali seemed much more shy about answering, "I kind of miss the flotilla, there everyone is packed in so tight, you always eat with everyone. I thought I would prefer the peace and quiet of life away from them, but I guess not."

Williams didn't push further, possibly sensing the anger her commander was emanating towards her, and they finished the meal in a tense silence. Pressly and Williams finished first, and both took their things off before excusing themselves and heading back to work. Adams waited until Tali was done, and followed her down to the engine room, enthusiastically discussing some procedure they were going to be trying later. Alenko finished and headed for the crew quarters, proclaiming a headache.

Shepard choked down the last of her meal and unenthusiastically started chewing on the gum that was supposed to clean her teeth and mouth.

"Are your meals always so uncomfortable?" Garrus asked her.

She shrugged, "Depends on the company. I suppose turians don't have this problem?"

"Oh we do, but usually it's resolved with a fight mid-meal, just so everyone knows their place for the dessert course."

Shepard huffed a laugh, "Sometimes I can't tell if you're joking or serious about these things."

"Consider it fifty-fifty and you'd be on track." He was silent for a moment, then voiced his concern, "Williams and Pressly have problems with us."

"You as in the other species?"

"Yes."

"It won't affect either of their work, and if they cause problems someone will tell me and I'll take their hide off in strips." She leaned forward and rubbed her face with her hands, "Hopefully it'll go away in time, we just have to leave it for a bit."

"If you say so commander, just don't have the hide stripping be public, it tends to lower morale."

"It's not a literal..." She stopped and frowned at him, "You're joking again aren't you?"

He tilted his head in a move she was starting to recognise as his smile, "You're a paranoid species, aren't you?"

"Hopefully this asari we're picking up isn't going to be quite so detrimental to my mental health." She stood and nodded to him, "It's good to have you on board Garrus, whatever some of the crew acts like."

He nodded to her in return, "Don't worry Shepard, I've faced worse hazing."

"Feel like telling me about them?"

"Maybe next mealtime, they seem to be so popular amongst you humans."

He strode off, leaving her chuckling to herself as she disposed of her MRE, he wasn't as much of a stick in the mud that he seemed.

**AN:-** Williams would be a troublemaker I think. It always bugged me that despite all her racism in game she hardly ever even interacted with the alien crew members in an abrasive way. I feel more like she would take every chance she could to needle them and insult them, unless the Commander had specifically told her not to.

I enjoyed writing the dinner scene, and it's definitely something I'm going to continue. Most of the dialogue that would normally be revealed from the individual conversations (Williams' family, Garrus as a SPECTRE, Alenko's time at BAaT) will be revealed in the group setting, to further promote the idea of the team that they're going to turn into.

And don't worry, Wrex will eventually join the mealtime fun. For those who don't know, an MRE is a 'Meal, Ready to Eat.' Military personnel joke that it's three lies in one. It's not a meal, it's not ready, and you can't eat it. And in three hundred years we apparently haven't been able to crack the technology.

Please read and review, new update as soon as I recruit Liara.


	6. Chapter 5: The Asari Scientist

**AN:-** I got Liara, so here's another chapter. This was one of those few occasions where I didn't do every other quest in between here and there first. Normally on the course of the investigation Shepard would have taken some time out to sniff the flowers, collect and finish a quest from Emily Wong, wade right into some poor family's personal dispute...

**Chapter Five: The Asari Scientist**

The Artemis Tau cluster was fun little area, filled with stars and habitable planets, and had apparently once been very important to the Protheans. Shepard sat and reviewed all the data in her cabin, wondering whether she was being too cautious. By all accounts there was nothing down there but ruins and ghosts.

Sighing she left her cabin and paced the ship. It was a habit she was already getting into less than a week into their voyage. It helped when her crew could see her, and she needed to learn her ship inside and out. She spoke with Pressly and Adams on a regular basis, and it was always fun to chat with her alien crewmembers, especially Tali, who was always fascinated by their new technology.

It was late, and most of the crew were asleep. Wrex was still standing by his bulkhead, but he was in no mood to talk. Yawning a little, Shepard went and watched the drive core for a while, counting off the pulses. It was oddly calming, and she could certainly see why Tali chose to sleep down there, a small hammock strung to one side of the engine bay.

Smiling at the sight of the young quarian, Shepard went back to the elevator and headed for her cabin again. They were only a day out from the Artemis Tau cluster, and she needed to get some sleep before they arrived. She found Joker at the table, eating something that actually smelled good.

"Hey there Joker," She went over and sat down, "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Just getting a quick meal. The ship's on auto for now, but I need to be there for when we come in to the Artemis Tau relay."

"Nice to see dedication, but you need rest as well."

"I work on a different sleep pattern when we're in FTL flight. For me this is practically late breakfast."

"What are you having?"

"Don't even think it commander, I get my food special, so I don't have to eat any of that MRE junk. Sets me back a few credits but it's worth it. And it's all mine as well."

Shepard smiled at him, "And if I gave you a few credits, could you bring in more of the good food?"

"I could always try, you planning for yourself or something larger scale?"

"I want my crew to feel like they're being taken care of. We don't need gourmet every day, but it would be nice if we could have some real food for after missions."

"Well okay Commander, but don't be surprised if it costs more than you think, I have to use some pretty obscure suppliers to get it sent out to the Terminus Systems."

"No expense spared Joker, I'm a SPECTRE after all."

He chuckled, "While you're at it, maybe we could get a nice holodeck in here? You know, for when we want some extra adventures on board?"

"I'll consider it." She yawned again, "Now I hate to command and run, but for me this is late evening, and I need sleep. See you when we come in to system Joker."

"Good night Commander."

"Good morning Joker." She glanced at the computer screen as she came into her cabin, but couldn't even bring her eyes to focus on it, instead collapsing onto her bed and falling instantly asleep.

"Coming up on

Shepard had initially feared that they would spend days searching the entire cluster to find the planet T'Soni was on, but when Tali had reported finding a geth signal emanating from one of the planets Shepard had given the order for full speed ahead. There was no way a scientist would be able to hold off against a geth assault, and they needed T'Soni alive.

"There's a lot of activity down there Commander, I can only find the one safe drop zone," Pressly was talking to her over the comm as her team bundled into the Mako. It was a tight fit but Shepard was taking no chances with that many geth on the planet.

"Then drop us there."

"Aye, aye commander."

There was a dipping sensation as Joker dropped the ship fast towards the planet surface and the bay doors opened, allowed the Mako to slide off its railing and begin descent. Garrus was on the thrusters controls, and as the planet surface rushed up towards them he engaged a blast and brought them into a smooth descent.

"Alright people, we're up. Williams, man the gun, Garrus you're on the assault gun. Tali, take over on the thrusters controls."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing commander?" Garrus asked, "The mako can be a handful in unskilled hands."

"Don't worry, I've taken the courses, it's not the most dangerous vehicle I've ever driven." She engaged the throttle and ran them straight over a rock, tipping the mako dangerously onto one side until it righted after Tali gave a quick blast on the correct thrusters.

"Nothing to worry about people, just a minor bump in the road." Shepard started them off again, this time using the viewscreen to guide her path through the rocks and avoiding the lava. They were making good progress when a shadow passed over their path and two pods smashed into the earth ahead, unfurling to reveal geth armature platforms.

"Oh darn," Williams said as she brought her gun to bear, loosing a shell with an ear-splitting crash. The entire tank shook and one of the armatures dropped on one side as the shell took its legs away. Garrus finished it with a machine gun blast as Williams sighted on the other armature, which was releasing a pulsing blue ball at them. The second before impact the entire tank lifted into the air, jumping over the ball and crashing down a few feet from the armature, close enough for Williams to put a shot right down its visor.

They stopped for a moment, turning to look at Tali, who still had one hand on the thrusters controls. "I thought you would appreciate the save." She said

"Maybe you should warn us next time," Kaidan looked distinctly sick, clinging to one of the overhead rails with all his might.

They set off again, Shepard avoiding the major road blocks until they came to a heavily armoured gate surrounded by several turrets.

"Maybe we can sneak around back," Garrus suggested, and Shepard pulled them into a sharp turn over a small hillock and onto a patch of ground. "Now," The turian stepped down from his gun position, "We should exit, Shepard and I take sniper positions and remove the main threats, then Wrex and Williams charge the facility, leaving Tali and Kaidan to follow them in and clean up afterwards."

Williams fired, and a second later dozens of shots started peppering the outside of the vehicle. Garrus sighed as Shepard restarted the mako, "Or we could just charge in, guns blazing, and get ourselves killed, that's also a good plan."

Resistance was tough, but after Tali jumped them on top of two geth rocket troopers they mopped it up with ease. A moment of hacking and Tali had opened up the gate, leaving them free to carry on. Shepard ramped them off a particularly high looking rock embankment and they all slammed to a halt in front of a path too narrow for the mako.

"I could always try going round," Shepard mused, looking at the steep rock face with the lava at the bottom, "I think this thing could handle the angles." The others were all shaking their heads, even Wrex looking a little worried. "Or we can go on foot from here, the source of the signal isn't too far."

They disembarked and rushed through the passage, coming upon what looked a lot like a geth camp. Shepard set up a sniper position and directed the others forward, providing them cover fire from the wave of attackers and scoring a couple of very satisfying shots on the enemy geth snipers who were trying to take her out.

Up the hill they came across an industrial complex, where the power readings Joker had detected were emanating from. "Not much longer now," Shepard yelled to her team, just as a geth colossus dropped from the sky and unfurled.

"Down!" Kaidan yelled as it fired an energy pulse, and the team dropped.

"Into positions," Shepard shouted, pulling her shotgun and chucking a grenade at the thing. Small arms fire made her shields shimmer and she looked to see a fast moving geth bouncing off the walls around them. "Kaidan, Tai, focus on the colossus, Wrex and Williams handle the jumpers, Garrus, you try and flank it."

They split up, the colossus confused for a moment about which target to pick, settling on Shepard. _Oh goody,_ She ducked and ran for cover as another energy bolt slammed into the ground behind her, the proximity draining her shields to nothing. A slug hit her in the back and she stumbled, the armour absorbing most of the force but the bullet still penetrated, settling somewhere just under her ribs.

She ducked behind a crate and checked her HUD. Under the combined assault of Tali's sabotage and Kaidan's biotics the colossus was actually proving to be the least threatening thing on the field, but the hoppers were causing trouble and draining everyone's shields. She pulled her sniper rifle off her back and sighted, taking one of them down with a single shot when it paused to try and kill Garrus, who had managed to get right besides the colossus and plant a grenade on one of its legs.

Thirty seconds later the colossus was down and the last of the hoppers was retreating before Wrex and Williams, who were taking it in turns to punch holes through its body. When it finally fell dead Shepard gathered her troops at the entrance to the mine. "We need to keep some people out here to make sure we aren't snuck up on, and someone needs to radio Joker that he needs to pick the mako up."

"I vote we leave it here and do all our missions on foot from now on." Williams quipped.

"Williams, you and Garrus stay here and keep anything from getting in, everyone else, come with me." Williams shot her a death glare, but shouldered her rifle nonetheless and went to stand by the top of the ramp. Garrus nodded to her and took his sniper rifle out, covering the side opposite her. The rest of the team hurried inside.

The path to the bottom of the mine was easy to follow, and once in the elevator Shepard had time to stare at the Prothean ruin, which even seemed to have power to it. As Kaidan pointed out, most of them only contained dead instrumentation and rubble. Their luck didn't hold, the second elevator cutting out several feet from the ground.

On the floor they came across a barrier, behind which an asari was suspended in the air. _I'll admit I'm curious,_ Shepard smiled, _How did she get in there?_

She called for help, and Shepard responded.

"Are you okay, what happened?"

She told them she was in a Prothean security device, and apparently it was restricting her movement. _I'm no expert, but that doesn't sound too secure._

"How do we get her out?" Kaidan asked.

"The mining laser," Tali responded, "We can use it to burrow her out."

"Whose side are you on?" Shepard asked, "Your mother is working with Saren."

"I haven't spoken to my mother in years, I assure you I am not on anybody's 'side.' Just get me out of here please!" It was enough for Shepard, the asari was clearly more worried about getting out of the trap than anything else.

"We'll get you out of there." Shepard assured her, "Tali?"

"We need to get down to the mining laser."

On her other side Wrex had pulled his assault rifle, "I think we have company."

Shepard turned to see more geth storming in, and drew her pistol, "Straight in people, we need to make this fast."

Wrex obliged her, clearing up most of the geth on his own, leaving Tali free to hack the controls. As they stepped through the hole the mining laser had made and onto the elevator it revealed, Kaidan smiled at her, "Just once, do you think you could avoid stepping onto every elevator you see?"

Liara was happy to see them, and with a little experimentation Shepard was able to shut down her containment field.

"Now how do we get out?" Wrex growled.

"There's an elevator in the central tower."

They got on and Liara activated it, just as the entire ruin shook. "Oh that can't be good," Tali sighed.

"These ruins are not stable," Liara told them, "The mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."

Shepard was already radioing Joker, "Joker, lock in on my signal and prepare for evac, priority, on the double."

"Aye, aye, ETA eight minutes."

"He needs to move faster," Kaidan pointed out as the elevator lurched unsettlingly.

The ride up was in tense silence, all of them hoping that the thing kept its power for long enough to get them to the top. It lasted, but there was another problem, a krogan who stepped up with a small band of geth. "Surrender, or don't, be more fun that way."

Shepard couldn't quite believe the ridiculousness of the situation, "In case you didn't notice this place is falling apart."

The krogan just shrugged, "Exhilarating, isn't it? Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Hand the doctor over."

Liara stepped forward defiantly, "Whatever it is you want you are not getting it from me."

Shepard smiled blandly, "She'll stay with us thanks."

"Not an option. Saren wants her, and he always gets what he wants kill them, spare the asari, or not, doesn't matter."

Shepard sighed and went for her gun, wishing there was an easier way to do this, but Wrex was already there, pumping bullets into the krogan, advancing steadily with his assault rifle flaring.

"Take the geth, leave the krogan to Wrex," She told the other, who did as instructed and took down the geth trying to get a bead on Wrex.

"You are an embarrassment to our entire species," Wrex grunted as he slammed the Battle-Master up against a wall. "Only seeking battle for money, working for those who killed us. You are pathetic," He shoved his assault rifle into an open wound in the other krogan's stomach. "And you die like a varren." He pulled the trigger.

Shepard waited until he had tossed the dead krogan aside, then touched Wrex on the shoulder, "We have to go Wrex, this whole place is coming down."

The krogan nodded at her and sprinted for the exit, leaving them to follow as fast as they could while the mine collapsed around them. At the end of the mine shaft Shepard could see the Normandy, Garrus and Williams on board and extending hands to the runners. Wrex cleared it in one, crashing into the cargo bay, and Alenko was caught by Williams, who heaved him up, then both turned and caught Tali, who was only a step behind.

Shepard grabbed Liara by the waist and hauled upwards, getting her high enough that Garrus could catch her, then leaped herself as the railings under her feet collapsed and a gout of smoke hit her in the back. She flailed for the cargo bay and was rewarded when three hands caught her at once and heaved, practically throwing her into the cargo bay.

"Too close commander, ten more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference." They were in the Normandy's comm room, everyone seated on the oval shaped chairs. Shepard stood in the centre of them, her back given a quick patch by Chakwas.

Liara was still shaken. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

"Joker pulled our asses out of there, I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes." Some people weren't used to the sort of gallows humour extreme situations could cause, and Liara was definitely one of those people.

"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species commander, but I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there and not just from the volcano, those geth would have killed me or dragged me off to Saren."

Across the comm room Alenko leaned forward, "What did Saren want with you, do you know something about the conduit?"

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction, that is my real area of expertise, I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

Shepard could tell she wasn't the only one startled by the scientist's age, "Just how old are you exactly?"

"I hate to admit it but I'm only a hundred and six."

Williams laughed, "Damn I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

"A century may seem like a long time to a short lived species like yours, but among the asari I am barely considered more than a child, that is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

"I've got my own theory on why the protheans disappeared." Shepard told her.

"With all due respect commander I have heard every theory out there, the problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind it is almost as if someone did not want to mystery solved. It is like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues," Shepard started, and she saw the other members of her crew exchanging looks. Knowing the Reapers had destroyed them, suddenly more and more of the jigsaw pieces were falling into place.

Liara hadn't noticed the glances, "Here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilisation to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence?" Shepard decided to hold onto her vision for a while, and let Liara explain some of the other theories, hoping that maybe some sort of picture might be formed from them.

"I have been working on this for fifty years I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence eventually subtle patterns start to emerge, patterns that hint at the truth it is difficult to explain to someone else, I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case, it is more a feeling, derived from a half century of dedicated research, but I know I'm right and eventually I will be able to prove it, there were other civilisations before the Protheans this cycle has repeated itself many times over."

"If the Protheans weren't the first then who was?" Shepard wasn't sure whether she liked the idea that something had wiped out several galactic civilisations, especially if it had been the Reapers every time. That seemed like a little more responsibility than she needed.

"I don't know, there is barely any evidence on the Protheans, and even less on those who came before them I cannot prove my theory but I know I am right the galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction each time a great civilisation rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down only ruins survive.

"The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before, their greatest achievement the mass relays and the citadel are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then like all the other forgotten civilisations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

**AN:-** Man this chapter had everything, the Mako, gunfights, geth, Protheans, krogan, and the single largest amount of text I have ever had to type up in one go. Seriously, doesn't Liara ever stop talking? My wrist hurts...

I decided to cut the chapter here, and the next one is called 'True Fate of the Protheans.' It's going to focus a lot more on Liara and Shepard interacting, discussing the fate of the protheans and slowly starting to realise they might like each other. I just thought it was a good enough line to end this one on, because the next chapter then starts with Shepard's big revelation of what happened 50,000 years ago.

I have a full day of university tomorrow, so probably nothing until Tuesday at the earliest, maybe Wednesday.

Please read and review!


	7. Chap 6: Commander Shepard, Galactic Cop

**AN:- **I know I said last time that this chapter would be a predominantly Liara and Shep chapter, but then I changed my mind. I'm not sure whether this is verging on parody, or just is straight parody, but certainly a lot of the cliche conventions of Mass Effect are made aware of in this chapter.

**Chapter Six: Commander Shepard, Galactic Cop**

Shepard sighed and decided to let Liara in on the big secret, "They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, the Reapers."

"The Reapers? But I have never heard of... how do you know this? What evidence do you have?" There was something cute about the way the asari got flustered at the new information.

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, it burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions? Yes that makes sense, the beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user, finding one that still works is extremely rare No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working Prothean beacon, even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk." She frowned, suddenly looking very human, albeit blue, "But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology, whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear."

Seeing the scientist trying to work out the problem was fascinating, her nose crinkled up and the frown came and went depending on whether she had found a problem or a probable solution, "I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all, a lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process you must be remarkably strong willed commander."

Shepard was a little surprised at the last comment, looking Liara in the eyes. There was something there she liked the look of, something in the determined young scientist. _Not the time Shepard,_ She chided herself, _Time to save the galaxy now._

Alenko agreed, "This isn't help us find Saren or the conduit."

"Of course you're right, I am sorry my scientific curiosity got the better of me, unfortunately I do not have any information that could help you find the conduit or Saren."

Shepard wasn't perturbed; Saren didn't strike her as the type to throw his geth away on random attacks. "I don't know Saren wanted you out of the picture, but I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along"

The relief was clear on her face, _She really is very young._ Shepard realised. It was odd to think of the alien in front of her as being both a century old but equally about as mature as an older teenager, "Thank you commander. Saren might come after me again, I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship, and my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

Wrex cut in, sitting next to Liara, and everyone looked a little shocked that he had spoken, "Her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts as well."

"Welcome aboard," Shepard said, hoping Joker was already appending the data to the report, and to the Normandy's crew logs.

"Thank you commander, I am very grateful," She stood, and seemed about sai more when she suddenly put a hand to her head, "Ooh, I am afraid I am feeling a bit light headed."

"When was the last time you ate, or slept?" Alenko asked, "Doctor Chakwas should take a look at you."

"It is probably just mental exhaustion coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans true fate, I need some time to process all this. Still it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional it will give me a chance to think things over, are we finished here commander?"

Shepard nodded, "We can talk again after you've seen the doctor, the rest of you dismissed."

As they filed away Joker came back over the intercom. "Mission reports are filed commander, want me to patch you through to the council?"

"Patch them through Joker." She at least wanted to present the image of a good SPECTRE to them."

"Setting up the link now commander."

The asari councillor was the first to speak once their holograms had materialised, "We've received your report commander, I understand Doctor T'Soni is on the Normandy?"

The turian butted in before she could reply, "I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?"

"Liara is on our side, the geth were trying to kill her."

"Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter!" The asari protested.

"Maybe she doesn't know." The salarian said.

"Or maybe we don't know her." The turian councillor seemed determined to put a negative spin on everything. "We never expected she could become a traitor."

"At least the mission was a success."

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin, was that really necessary Shepard?"

She rolled her eyes, grateful that the holograms weren't quite able to translate that expression in realtime, "The geth were crawling all over those ruins, we were lucky to make it out alive."

"Of course commander, the mission must always take priority."

"Good luck commander, remember, we are all counting on you."

She shut down the link and breathed deeply, the turian councillor still on her mind. She had a deep suspicion nothing she ever did would be good enough for that one.

She checked her journal during the walk to the Galaxy Map, trying to choose between the two other destinations she had been given. Feros sounded like it was little more than a backwater, and she couldn't quite figure out what Saren would want with it, but wading around in red tape on Noveria didn't sound like fun either.

When she reached the map Joker linked himself in, "I know we've got other destinations commander, but I'm picking up a distress signal on the Alliance military channel, it's coming from in this cluster."

"What's the signal?"

"Just an automatic repeater, nothing specific."

She frowned, her mission to track down Saren was important, but on the other hand she had a duty to help people, not only as a SPECTRE but also as an Alliance Commander. "I'm plotting a course for the distress beacon, tell everyone to get ready, we don't know what we're facing just yet."

The in-system jump didn't take long, but even as they were moving a channel opened from one Nassana Dantius, who wanted them to return to the Citadel. Shepard sighed and added the note to her journal. She wanted to return to the Citadel anyway, checking in with Udina and Anderson was probably a good idea, and it wouldn't hurt to talk to this diplomat while she was there.

She gave her crew a quick briefing in the cargo hold, "Okay, we don't know what we're facing down there, so I'm playing it safe. We're picking up an Alliance distress beacon, and that isn't good. Williams and Alenko are in the ground crew, same with Garrus. Tali and Wrex are staying here, and Liara is still too weak to join us."

"And I take it you're driving again?" Garrus asked.

"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if all snide comments were prefaced with, 'ma'am,' just for future reference."

He performed his head-tilt smile, "Of course ma'am."

"Saddle up and move out."

Edolus wasn't much to look at, wind-swept plains and dull yellow rock everywhere. The most exciting view was staring at the constant meteor storm, but even that was little more than an endlessly repeated fireworks display after a while. The beacon was easy to trace, and the mako made short work of the rough terrain.

A mako lay abandoned next to a transmitter in the middle of a wide plain in the desert, the bodies of marines spread all around it. There were track marks from the mako in the dirt, but little other disturbance. "I don't like this," Williams said.

"Disembark and look for anything," Shepard kept her own discomfort hidden, "Survivors, or some clue about what did this."

They pulled the mako to a stop a few metres away and got out, double-timing it over to the bodies. While Garrus started digging through the mako's logs, and Williams and Alenko policed the bodies. Shepard went to the transmitter and shut it down. "Anything?" She asked as she turned back to look at her people.

"This wasn't a geth attack," Alenko reported, still crouched next to one of the bodies, "In fact I don't think it was weapons fire at all."

"Then what did it?" She asked, marching over. She stopped in her tracks when she got a good look at one of the bodies. "Everyone, back to the mako, on the double."

She was already in motion, Williams and Alenko behind her. Garrus poked his head out from the other vehicle, "What's going on?" He yelled.

"Thresher Maw!" Shepard called back, "Get to the mako!"

That was when a gigantic head burst from the ground a dozen feet away, jaws opening to spit a glob of acidic venom at them. The globule landed between the humans and Garrus' mako, forcing the turian to duck for cover. Shepard threw herself behind the controls of her own mako, barely waiting until Alenko had dived in before starting the vehicle forwards in a curving motion away from the Thresher. She heard Williams and Alenko taking the gunnery positions behind her and pulled the tank into a sharp turn.

"Aim for the head!" She roared at Williams, who responded by pumping a shell into the Thresher's gaping mouth. It barely fazed the beast, which vomited another ball of venom at them. Alenko opened up with the assault gun, peppering slugs up and down its entire length, having even less effect than the munitions.

"Why won't it die!" Williams all but screamed as she launched another shell.

_They don't die, they never die, they only kill._ Shepard would have liked very much to shut down her own panicked thoughts, but at least if she concentrated on moving the mako she wouldn't remember the raw terror of facing the things on foot. _Too late. _The Thresher retreated, and she was struck with a vivid memory of Akuze, how just when it had seemed safe the ground had opened up underneath Toombs' feet and he had been swallowed hole.

The mako bucked forward and crashed down heavily onto its roof, the Thresher erupting from the ground behind them and swinging to stare at the tank. Shepard had ignored the safety harness and as a result was splayed across the mako, staring blearily at the viewscreen as the Thresher dove in for the kill. A scream echoed in her ears that she wasn't sure was a memory or reality when the Thresher jerked to one side, ichor gushing from its body.

Shepard gazed down at her hands, wondering why she could see blood on them. She hadn't been hit, but Torres had been torn in half, it was her blood that coated Shepard now, her blood that coated the inside of Shepard's mouth with a bitter copper taste. Vaguely she watched the Thresher jerk again as a slug tore off the top third of its head, then another opened a hole under the jaw.

"_Get yourself in gear Shepard, I think I'm just making it mad."_

That was Garrus. _Garrus?_ Oh.

Shepard rolled onto her front and shook her head, the images of blood clearing from her hands and the bitter aftertaste leaving her mouth. _Right, Garrus, Thresher Maw now, Edolus, not Akuze._ She crawled back to the gun, ignoring the unconscious Williams, and pulled herself into the upside down gunner's seat, strapping the harness safely across her chest.

The motors whined as she tried to bring the gun round, pushing against the dirt the main turret was now embedded in, but she saw the reticule blink red as it centred on the Thresher's head, one wildly waving tentacle trying to throw off her aim. "On the count of three Garrus," She said, and heard him grunt a response.

"One, two, THREE!" The entire world seemed to shake as Shepard fired, the mako groaning in protest but still firing true, a slug the size of a tangerine on its merry way to the Thresher. At the same time the gun on the marines' mako roared as Garrus fired another heavy ordinance blast.

Whether by luck or skill, the slugs met in the centre of the Thresher's head, and the resulting explosion as the two hunks of metal met at near-light velocity was enough to send shockwaves rippling down through the Thresher's body, blowing it apart and raining sickly green innards over both vehicles and the bodies of the marines.

Shepard drooped in the harness, then gripped the edge of the seat and slapped the release buckle, letting herself drop down onto the ceiling, narrowly missing Alenko and Williams. She lay there and tried to breathe deeply, but her body wouldn't relax, her heart thundering so hard she thought her chest would split open. Her lungs worked overtime, and despite her best efforts her vision was going dark.

_Torres, Toombs, Postle, Baldwin, I'm sorry._ She blacked out with their faces still screaming at her, their mouths still contorted in the final agony of their last seconds.

"Shepard?" Garrus' calm voice woke her, and she opened her eyes to find herself propped against the inside of the mako, Wililams and Alenko next to her, with the turian crouched next to her. "Good," He said when she focused on him, "I was afraid of brain damage, and I'm no expert on human biology."

"Status report?"

"The Thresher's good and dead, the body's out there if you want to look. The Normandy's on its way down. I came in here to find you three sprawled all over the inside of the mako. I'd only just got you sitting when you woke up."

"How long was I out?"

"Well it's been about two minutes since you fired the gun. I assume that the shock of it must have knocked you unconscious."

"Must be," She lied, "I just remember firing, then nothing." An echo of a scream was still ringing in her ears. "What's the ETA?"

"Another four minutes."

"Right, well I think it'd be best if we just hang tight 'til then."

"Good idea Commander."

Back on board she spent the better part of an hour convincing Chakwas that she was in fact perfectly capable of leaving the infirmary, though she did insist on Williams and Alenko staying in bed. They really had been knocked unconscious, she only had some bad memories to deal with. She spent the next hour writing up her report, and trying to get in touch with Admiral Kahoku. Apparently he was on the Citadel, another job she would have to get done when she was over there.

She took a quick four hours of rest and headed out to the command centre, stopping in to make sure Alenko and Williams were progressing well. As she reached the galaxy map Joker patched through again, "I'm sorry to do this commander, but I've got another signal in this sector. I'm not sure what it is, but it's been pinging my systems for the last half hour."

Shepard resisted the urge to sigh, "Take us in Joker. I'll scout it out, but I'm not spending more than a half hour on this one."

**AN:-** To those who know, the other signal from Artemis Tau is of course the pirate base which has Nassana Dantius' sister. The next chapter (which really will be a Shep/Liara chapter) opens with the meal after that mission, which I think is going to be quite a common theme when I don't want to go through another fight scene. One of my many, many problems novelising this is the number of times you just storm into a random pirate base and kill everyone, and that would very quickly get old. The major action of this chapter was of course the Thresher Maw, which for my Shepard would be a fairly traumatic experience, and I didn't want to cheapen it.

I seem to be always complaining about my problems writing this, when I'm actually having an absolute blast with it. Seriously, this game is awesome, and I really can't wait to get to ME2, I've already got some really good ideas for that one. COMING UP: Liara and Shep fluffy goodness, a trip to the Citadel, Conrad Verner, Major Kyle, some soul-searching Kaidan, and a whole lotta gunfights.

Please read and review.


	8. Chapter 7: True Fate of the Protheans

**AN:-** I am very sorry this took so long. I had a bit of problem what with turning twenty-one and getting a pretty fierce head cold. Also, I've spent the last month having my original creative writing put down at university simply for being Science-Fiction or Fantasy. But you don't come here to hear me whining, so on with the tale.

**Chapter Seven: True Fate of the Protheans**

"So there we are, just opened the door, the first hail of shells comes through and we dive for cover, and this asari comes out of nowhere, screaming 'I will destroy you!' at the top of her lungs."

The table erupted into laughter, Williams regarding Kaidan with an incredulous expression, "Seriously? 'I will destroy you?' What was her deal?"

Kaidan waved for them to quiet down, "Oh it gets better," He looked to Shepard who was sitting quietly at the end of the table, "The asari charges, biotic field up, yelling bloody murder at us, all the rest of the pirates waiting for her to take us down, and Shepard swings out her rifle, doesn't even bother to aim, bang, and she drops."

"No way!" Williams stared at her commander, "An asari biotic, shield an' all, one shot?"

Next to Adams, Tali nodded, "Perfect hit to the head, it wasn't pretty."

Garrus let out his low whistle, "One of these days you and I will have to have a little shooting match commander."

"I'd bring your gracious loser face," Kaidan pointed his spork between the turian and the SPECTRE, "Because there is no way you're beating Shepard."

"We turians don't have a gracious loser face, it must be a solely human thing."

Shepard was enjoying the banter, but she was careful to keep an ear out for when it went a little beyond friendly ribbing. As far as she could tell, Garrus fully understood the concept of boasting, so there wasn't much danger until Williams or Pressly joined in.

"It appears we have company," Garrus said, motioning to the med bay, where Liara was emerging, Doctor Chakwas a step behind her. "Hello doctor, Liara, are you joining us for dinner?"

Doctor Chakwas slid into a seat and nodded, "I heard voices, decided it might be a nice idea for me to leave the medical bay once in a while."

"And I was hoping it would not be too much of an imposition for me to join you as well?" Liara wasn't quite stammering, but Shepard was still reminded very much of a new kid joining a class.

"You can come sit here Liara," She pulled out the chair on her other side, and the scientist slid into it, sitting ramrod straight and folding her hands into her lap. She didn't even seem to have brought any food with her, unlike Chakwas, who had an actual plate with her food, instead of the trays the MRE came in. "I take it you have Joker's ear?" Shepard waved her fork towards Chakwas' food. The doctor only smiled an enigmatic smile and started to eat.

"Aren't you going to be eating Liara?" Kaidan asked.

"I'm sorry, I did not think this through, Doctor Chakwas extended an invitation and I didn't remember to bring any food."

Shepard would almost have laughed, but the scientist looked so young and hopeless that she felt a strong urge to hug her. "You can finish mine, I'm not that hungry."

"Oh! I couldn't possibly!"

"Don't be silly, you need something to eat, I've spoken to Chakwas, you're still not in the best condition." Shepard pushed her meal over to Liara with a smile, "Go on."

The scientist examined the food, "Is this some sort of human food?"

"Oh yeah," Williams didn't look up from her meal, "It's the best, the thing that keeps marines coming back for more."

Everyone at the table adopted an earnest look and tried desperately not to let on. Liara took the fork and dug some of the meal out, sniffing it experimentally before taking a bite. The scene held in silence for a long time, as Liara desperately tried not to spit the meal out, and all the humans kept looking at her with straight faces.

She managed to swallow it down, and with her eyes watering she smiled at the table, "It must be an acquired taste."

Williams couldn't hold it in, throwing her head back and howling at the ceiling. Kaidan was left to explain, trying to keep his own giggles under control. "It's okay Liara, this stuff is nasty, even to humans, but it's the best we've got."

"You'd be welcome to try mine," Garrus was smiling, but he wasn't laughing at least, "But I think you'd like the dextros even less than the human MRE."

Liara was smiling as well now, her face flushed a deeper shade of blue, "Thank you for the offer Garrus, but I think this, uh, 'MRE' will be fine for now."

Shepard cleared her throat and looked away from the scientist, focusing instead on Garrus, "So Wrex is still next to his wall?"

The C-Sec officer nodded, "He does seem to like it down there. I think it's the guns the Chief spends all her time working on."

"Could be the guns," Williams fixed the turian with a glare, "Could be that mako you've sent all your time slavering after."

"I find the mako fascinating as a vehicle."

"I bet you do, making notes to take back to Palaven?"

"I don't see why I would want to."

"Oh like you aren't trying to get a read on our capabilities."

Either Garrus' translator wasn't giving him the right tone, or he was trying to calm the situation down, because he simply relaxed deeper into his chair, "I think it's important to know whether we can defeat Saren and the geth, but I would give those reports to the Commander, not to Palaven."

"And further reports on human military capabilities?"

"Would be handled by diplomatic officials, not me."

Williams grunted, "So you turians never use spies then." It wasn't quite a question.

"Do you have an accusation you would like to level Chief?"

"No she doesn't." Kaidan jumped in before Shepard could, but Williams wouldn't be deterred.

"Yes she does," The gunnery chief stood and slammed her palms onto the table, "It's not right having so many non-humans on a human vessel, and letting you near crucial systems, like the engines," She gestured at Tali, who was trying to hide behind Adams, "Or the tank, or the medical bay," She failed to notice the stony-eyed looks both Shepard and Chakwas were shooting her way, or that Liara was on the brink of tears. "I'm watching you, all of you."

"Gunnery Chief, my office, now." Shepard stood as well, feeling her body tensing up. She tried to relax her shoulders, but as Williams turned to glare at her too, she felt her muscles locking. For some reason she felt less like she was a commander facing a fellow officer and more like she was about to enter a duelling ring.

The two left the table, heading straight for Shepard's office. Williams went in and stood in front of the desk. Shepard stayed by the door, making sure it was sealed after it closed, then marched to stand in front of the Chief. "You remember the last conversation we had in this office?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Do you remember I told you what would happen if you antagonised another member of this crew?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What did I say would happen?"

Despite already being at full attention Williams managed to straighten more, her jaw locking almost entirely. "I would be removed from active duty."

"Did you think perhaps I was bluffing? That I wouldn't carry through on my word because we share a species?"

"No ma'am."

"So why did you go against my request?"

"The conversation got out of hand."

Shepard frowned. It was a valid point; the conversation had drifted further than would have seemed obvious when it started. "I was there chief, I remember. What I don't quite realise is why you didn't take any of the outs Garrus allowed you. At several points you could have exited the conversation and this," She gestured to the office, "Would not have happened."

"As I say commander, out of hand."

"That's not even an attempt at an excuse."

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Denied." Shepard was too frustrated to allow that, "If you speak, it goes on your record, and I decide whether it remains permanent."

"Very well commander." For a moment Williams struggled against what was clearly a lifetime of military upbringing. "At this point, does anything I say have an outcome on this conversation?"

Shepard growled. She wasn't even aware, but she saw the Chief's eyes widen, and suddenly realised her throat was rumbling. "A comment like that and not only should I remove you from duty, but I should put you up for insubordination." She watched carefully for the reaction, and was pleased to see a momentary flash of panic cross the Chief's face.

"If your commander does not give you permission to speak freely then you keep your mouth shut Williams. This ship is still Alliance, you are still Alliance, and I may be a SPECTRE but I will still be adhering to the formality of a military crew. A human military crew yes, but a military crew." She forced herself to calm down, "If this were a turian ship Garrus would have been fully within his rights to challenge you to a fight. Maybe you would prefer this method?"

When Williams looked about to respond Shepard stepped away from the desk, "Don't answer that." She stood a half foot from Williams and stared her down. The Chief had a good few inches on her, but she seemed to be shrinking by the second. "You are removed from active duty. You are required to report to me every other day for a conversation to decide your continued interaction with this crew and this mission.

She went to sit behind the desk and opened up the computer to start noting it down, "In the event I am on a mission we will forgo the meeting. You are not to communicate with any member of the non-human crew unless you have asked me for permission and are accompanied by a member of crew I will specify." She looked up, and felt a twinge of guilt. The Chief was a crushed woman, "There will be no troublemakers on my ship, you had best remember that."

Williams' jaw twitched a few times, clearly trying to keep her voice from cracking, "I understand ma'am."

"Dismissed chief. I'll see you at 1000 in two days time."

Williams saluted and left, Shepard remembering to remotely unlock the door just before the chief walked into it. Once the woman was gone Shepard leaned back and rubbed her face, wishing that just one thing could have gone easily. First the Thresher Maw, then the pirates. It had been a tough few days, and her crew weren't making it easier.

There was a chime on her door panel, "Enter," She called out.

To her surprise, Doctor T'Soni entered. "Hello commander."

"Liara, this is unexpected."

"I know, I came to apologise for the scene in the mess hall, I cannot help but feel I was somewhat responsible for that."

"Don't," Shepard walked round to sit behind the desk, "I've spoken with Williams before, this is her problem, not yours." She watched the asari scientist closely, noticing suddenly how the glow of her desk computer was reflecting off Liara's skin. "Anyway," She said to cover her own lapse of concentration, "Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well yes actually, I was hoping I could speak to you some more about your experiences with the Prothean beacon."

"My door is always open, unless you want to wait a little before going on with this?"

"As long as you are comfortable I would like to get started as soon as possible, I am sure there is much data that can be gleaned. Even images which would have meant little to you may mean something to me, what with my years of study."

"I'd be happy to help."

"Very well," Liara activated her omni-tool, "Would it be okay if I sat?"

Shepard spun a chair out for her, leaning back into hers and trying not to be distracted by the young woman in front of her. "What do you want to know?"

"Can you explain the progression of the vision to me? The images in sequence as you see them?"

It wasn't as hard as Shepard had anticipated. It wasn't like a memory, the vision was something more, like it had been burned right into her head. "First there's an image of buildings, long spires, a lot like the Citadel, but on a planet, then an image of a planet, I think it's the same one, and what looks like overgrown trees." Liara was noting it all, fascinated.

"Then two images of the Citadel itself, one as if you were looking out from the Presidium, but then another image, like you were flying in towards it from space. Then, something. I'm sorry," She said when Liara looked up with a frown, "I don't know what it is. It looks almost like the underside of an insect, but it's metal, and it, hums?" She shrugged a little, uncomfortable under the scientist's gaze, "Even in the vision it hums."

Liara nodded and tapped some more data into the file, "Go on."

"Then there's an image of beings, burning on the Citadel. Light is flooding through the windows of the Presidium. The sky is, on fire I guess. The entire world is burning, and there are alien creatures dying. Another image like that, closer though, you can see the pain on their faces." Shepard took a breath, wishing she could unsee that part of the vision. Liara seemed to sense something, looking up again.

"I'm okay," Shepard reassured her, "Next there's another image; more mechanical parts, and it hums again. I get the sense that this is the 'Reaper.' I don't know how I know that name, but it seems like the obvious choice. I don't know what I see next. It could be the aliens from before, but it almost looks like they've been fossilised, or," She frowned and felt an inappropriate smile tugging at her lips, "This sounds ridiculous but it almost looks like they've been turned into trees."

"And next?"

"The sky is on fire again, and there are aliens burning again. I think it's the planet, from the beginning, the spires have fire shooting between them. Then I see a solar system. I don't know where it is, but it's burning, every planet is a blackened husk, and I see, something in the shadow of one of the planets."

"What is this thing?"

Shepard felt her breathing increase as the thing filled her mind's eye, "I don't know. It hums, and it's moving. It's huge, so much bigger than any of our ships. It would outrank one of the Turian dreadnaughts easily. And it... feels me. It knows I'm watching it, and then the vision ends." She put a hand to her forehead and was surprised to find a cold sheen of sweat there. Thankfully, Liara was still engrossed in her recordings and hadn't noticed.

"Thank you for this Shepard, every bit of information will help my own investigations. I cannot wait to start analysing this data."

"If you don't mind me asking Liara..." When the scientist shook her head Shepard went on, "You seem to have a real fascination for this. It just seems like an unusual area of interest for anyone."

"I suppose it must to many, but for me there were many things that led to the decision. I always loved the Protheans, and history in general, it seems so romantic back then. Human history in particular, and salarian."

"Why us?"

"Your lifespans are so short, in comparison to many other species. Not short enough to stymie your growth though, and your intellects and personalities seem to be suited more to your lifetimes. An asari can live for over a thousand years, and some have had such lofty goals that succeeding in them is impossible, but our long lives convince some that they can achieve them."

"Could you explain that a little more?"

"Humans are very aware of their own mortality, and they strive every day to try and achieve something. Look at your thinkers, your inventors, your scientists, Einstein, Hawkings, Bell, Newton. They made such incredible leaps forward not because they had a millennia, but because they didn't, and they needed to move quickly. The salarians are similar, their lives are so short but their goals so lofty they work harder than any to achieve them."

"And asari don't?" Shepard was surprised, "Liara you're barely a tenth into your life and you're already a scientist with more than fifty years work behind you."

"It's not the same. Some asari get complacent, they see themselves as being able to take a few centuries and do nothing, just because we have the time. This is time we could spend helping others, humans take at most a year, then they get right back in."

"For us a year is a long time to take off." Shepard reminded her.

"Yes, but we asari have the benefit of being able to see ten generations of human advancement for every one of ours, and sometimes you achieve as much in a hundred years as we do in a thousand. There are hundreds of asari who can remember when humans were nothing more than a little pre-nuclear world out on the edge of Citadel space, and look what you have done in that time. Imagine what you might do within a thousand years!"

"You have a high opinion of us, but why examine the Protheans?"

"Your history is easy to study, as is any race within the galaxy, but the Protheans, one must work at it. I love human culture, and I want to have that sort of work ethic."

"It's a fair answer."

"It is not the whole story," She bit her lower lip and looked away, "Maybe I shall tell you the rest some time."

"I think I'd like that Liara."

"As would I Shepard, and maybe I could learn some of your history as well? I am sure you would be fascinating to learn about."

Shepard was a little taken aback to her herself described like a topic in school, "Sounds like you wanna dissect me in a lab somewhere." She said teasingly.

The asari didn't get it, "What? No! I did not mean to insinuate, I never meant to offend you Shepard, I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for an in-depth study." Shepard raised an eyebrow, but Liara had already realised what she had said, "That's even worse," She had gone an odd shade of dark blue with a tinge of pink to it.

"Relax Liara, I'm just teasing."

The scientist took a deep breath and stared at her knees for a moment. "I am very sorry Shepard, I'm afraid I have little experience at talking to other people, I prefer to spend all of my time with data disks and computers, I am much less liable to offend them with some badly placed comment."

Shepard smiled at her, "I'm not offended Liara, don't worry."

"I think it would be best if we just pretended this conversation never happened," She stood up too quickly and bashed the chair, going to put it right but then straightened and forcing a smile, "Thank you for your help with the Protheans." She managed to walk back to the door without turning, and then fled, presumably back to the medical bay.

Shepard sighed and leaned back, _Oh boy, this could get real complicated._

**AN:-** This chapter was originally meant to be much more Liara-centric, but then I realised that I wanted to really kick the Ashley sub-plot off, since in my story it's going to be very important for her to change her opinions. Also, I wanted the Liara sub-plot to be a little more slow-burning than I had originally decided on.

Also in this chapter, a little lamp-shade hanging about the tendency of asari enemies to spout the same line of dialogue in Every. Single. Encounter. I wasn't just going to leave it hanging there. Anyway, I have a day off from university tomorrow, so basically I'm going to be playing ME and writing this fic all day, so expect several more chapters within the next twelve hours or so.

Oh, and while I was buying my twenty-first birthday present (a new guitar) Noddy Holder of Slade was in the shop, and he spoke to me.


	9. Chapter 8: Of Scientists and Weapons

**AN:- **So, after much editing, here we are, Chapter Eight: Of Scientists and Weapons (I apologise for the title, I just thought it sounded interesting)

**Chapter Eight: Of Scientists and Weapons**

After a good eight hours' sleep Shepard stepped out of her room and wandered back over to the meal table. Everyone had left, which wasn't that surprising, and only Kaidan was left, apparently working on something by one of the computer terminals. "Lieutenant," She stepped up and waited until he had turned to face her. "Do you have some insight on where the crew is right now?"

He shuffled a little and rubbed his arm, "Shouldn't you be talking to someone else about that, maybe the doctor?"

"I think you keep your ear to the ground on things like this Alenko, just looking for some personal input."

He sighed, "Off the record?"

"Of course."

"I don't know how sure people are about this. Williams isn't the only one with reservations about letting the alien crew-members have such a free run of the ship."

"Yourself?"

"I don't think anyone on this ship is going to betray us. For Garrus it would be against his code of honour, Wrex is just happy as long as he's got people to kill, Tali would only tell the Migrant Fleet and I frankly don't think they're a threat to humanity, and the good doctor is a little too shy to go spreading our secrets."

"Good to hear it, but you think some of the crew do feel uneasy?"

"We're still an Alliance ship, people need to see that."

"Thanks for the insight Kaidan."

"Anytime commander."

She wanted to head over to eh med bay and chat with Liara again, but she knew it was far too soon after Liara's embarrassment. Instead she stepped into the lift and crossed her arms, wishing the thing would move a little faster. She needed to decide where they were going next, but she wanted to have a quick chat with her crew before they went off again.

The elevator opened out to the usual scene below-decks, Ashley still maintaining their weapons, Wrex still up against his bulkhead, but on further inspection Garrus wasn't calibrating the mako. Shepard frowned and strolled over, hoping that Williams had learned her lesson after the previous evening.

"Good morning Garrus, you seem distracted."

"Morning?" He looked up, startled, "Oh, hello Shepard."

"Are you working on anything important?" She asked.

"It's, just a personal project, something I didn't have time to focus on when I was with C-Sec." If he had been human Shepard would have thought he was acting deliberately cagey.

"If there's anything I can help with, be sure to let me know."

"I will Shepard, and I wanted to thank you for taking me on board your crew."

"It's good to have you Garrus."

"You're too kind. But it's more than just a chance to take down Saren, it's getting away from C-Sec as well. Things were starting to get intolerable there, and I'm just glad that I've been given another chance to start doing things the right way again."

Shepard was curious now. "What was so bad about C-Sec?"

"It wasn't anything major, just the red tape piling up around my head. And you say the way that Palin treated me. I knew Saren was bad, and my instinct as an investigative officer should have counted for something, but to him it was no evidence, no case."

"That's not the wrong way Garrus, that's the way we have to work. Otherwise how are we different?"

"It's different for humans, there's less of you. You like to think that it's better to let ten guilty prisoners go free if it means saving one innocent. Well, turians have never been able to take that risk. We would rather have the one innocent wrongfully convicted, if it means catching out people like Saren."

"That's a dangerous attitude to take Garrus." She folded her arms and realised she was seeing him in a whole new light, and not a very flattering one, "We do things right, we do things by the book, to the law. C-Sec might have a bureaucracy, but without that it would nothing more than thugs with badges as well as guns."

"You see it your way Shepard, but I stand by my view."

She nodded, "As long as you follow orders you can hold whatever opinions you like."

"But let me guess, don't share them round the crew?"

Her only response was a tight smile, "Let me know if you need any help with your project."

She managed to resist sighing until she was into the engine room. It had seemed like her crew was composed of safe, stable individuals, and now it looked more like Wrex was the only one not hiding any trauma. _And you'd be a fine one to talk about hiding trauma,_ Her inner-voice reminded her. _Oh shut up._

Tali didn't seem her usual chipper self, her voice dull as she responded to Shepard's greeting.

"Is something wrong Tali?"

"Not really, I'm just finding it a little difficult to sleep."

"Why, you sleep here don't you?"

"I sleep in the engine room because it is the loudest part of the ship, but it's still too quiet."

"How is it being quite making it hard to sleep?"

The quarian sighed and looked back to the gigantic drive core, "You don't understand Shepard. To you a quiet ship is ideal, it means everything is running properly, but to me, if a ship is quiet, it means the air filter has broken, or the airlock seals are about to quit." She turned back to Shepard, "My home has always been noisy Shepard, this place is not."

"You're homesick Tali. It's understandable, you'll just have to adapt a little more."

"It's easy for you Shepard, you humans don't have to live in the same conditions we do every day on the flotilla." There was anger in her voice now, subtle, but Tali could easily have been accusing her. Shepard frowned.

"Tali, I didn't even set foot on a starship until I was sixteen. I've lived on them ever since. I spent years, wishing that I could spend some time with dirt beneath my feet, but I couldn't. I finished my education on space stations and joined the Alliance right after. I know how it feels to leave your home, and never going back."

"I'm sorry Shepard, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. You're still young, and you'll go back to the flotilla when your Pilgrimage is over, right?"

The quarian nodded, "That's the plan, but don't worry, I'm not going to just leave you without an engineer."

"Glad to hear it." Shepard wasn't quite sure about how quarians felt about personal space, but she touched Tali's arm lightly anyway, "Until then, just give it time, you'll get used to the ship."

The young engineer's shoulders were still slumped, but her goodbye at least had a little more cheer to it. Shepard left the engine room and passed by Wrex on her way to elevator, she had almost stepped in when the krogan made a grunt which could have been her name.

"Yes Wrex?" She asked, turning to him.

"Shepard," If she didn't know better she would have thought the krogan was embarrassed, "I wanted to know our next destination."

"I'm not certain yet, we have Feros and Noveria to check, but Joker left me a message about another geth incursion we need to look at."

"It should be a glorious fight." It wasn't quite a statement.

She felt like teasing him a little, "You're allowed to ask if you want to go along on the mission."

He bristled, "I am not used to humans Shepard."

She smiled, "I think geth hunting sounds fun, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good choice, I'll go set the course."

She activated the elevator and smiled a little to herself as it climbed. She was starting to get the hang of talking to her crew members, and if Captain Anderson had taught her anything it was the importance of knowing the people under your command. She stepped out into the mess hall and nodded to the two crew members who were eating.

"Are we moving out soon Commander?" One of them, Ipkis, asked.

She nodded, "We're going geth hunting, we've received some reports of geth in the Traverse. We need to protect our colonies out there."

The two smiled as she walked off, and she heard the woman telling her friend, "See, I told you we were going to be taking care of the colonies."

_At least some people are happy._ She tramped out to the galaxy map and stepped up, "Set a course, Joker, we're going to the Armstrong Nebula."

"Aye aye Commander, setting the course. ETA twelve hours."

_That's the problem with space travel,_ Shepard stepped down from the galaxy map and headed back to her quarters. _The vids always make it look instant, but there's a lot of travel out here._ Back in her quarters she dragged up the Codex entry on the Armstrong Nebula and started reading.

She was about halfway through the in-depth planet analysis when her door chimed, "It's open." She called.

Kaidan came in and stood to attention right by the door. "Lieutenant, good to see you. Is there something you wanted?"

"I wanted to know about the next mission. Where we're going, what the load out needs to be, who we're taking." He might have made the personnel request last, but he wasn't exactly being subtle.

"Gunnery Chief Williams will not be accompanying us on this mission Alenko. As to your other questions, tell her to get the heaviest loads possible, and have Garrus double check the mako. Wrex will be taking point on this mission."

"Yes ma'am."

Shepard turned back to her computer, "Tell Williams that if she wants to ask me for her position back, she has to ask me herself, not get her crewmates to do it."

"Yes Commander." He saluted again and left.

Once the door had cycled shut Shepard dropped her head into her hands, _The crew must think I'm an absolute hardass._ She hated to come down on Williams so hard, but there wasn't another option. Everyone else was following her command to the letter, and she needed to know that the Chief could as well. _Even Wrex trusts my judgement, and he's a mercenary._ She forced her attention back to the Codex, _I need to know this system._

When the _Normandy _came into the Armstrong Nebula she had her entire crew gathered in the cargo hold, ready to pile into the mako again. "This has got to be done quickly people," She told them, "The geth are setting up a series of bases in this system, and we have to smash them. Intelligence doesn't suggest this is anything more than random raiding, but if it is, then we need to make sure we make sure they're not coming back."

Her crew nodded, "If we're on foot, Wrex is taking point, Garrus you stick with Tali, and Kaidan you back up those two. Liara, you stay with me," The asari had heard about their mission, and insisted that it was time for her to pull her weight. Chakwas had okayed it, so Shepard was bringing her along.

Of course, that meant that the only member staying behind was Williams, and it was clear the Chief wasn't happy about it. She was staying up in the cockpit with Joker and Pressly, monitoring the mission status.

"Saddle up," She told them, "We drop in ten."

The first planet they dropped onto was an ice ball, and before they had even touched down a vicious gust of air had carried them several feet away from their drop zone. Tali was quick on the thrusters and saved them from slamming into a rocky outcropping, but it was close.

"You sure you can get us through this Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Stow it Garrus, I can drive this thing just fine."

Of course, her actions weren't exactly matching up with that, and several times as she tried to follow the beacon on her radar she forgot to compensate for the cross-winds and the mako slid for several feet before she regained control. Her passengers were thoroughly shaken by the time they finally pulled within range of the geth outpost.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Garrus was already bringing the turret into position. Wrex was on the assault gun next to him.

While she didn't respond, Shepard had to agree with him, there were barely a dozen geth out there, and the combination of cannon and machine gun took half of them before they could even return fire.

Just as they were celebrating an easy victory Kaidan spoke up. "I've got something on the scanners."

A geth drop-ship roared overhead, depositing troops right on top of them. Their shields dropped in the first barrage and within second the mako was subjected to heavy fire. "Everyone out, Wrex take the lead."

The krogan's lips pulled back from his teeth and he charged from the vehicle, his rifle spitting fire before he was even fully out. Garrus followed him, concentrated bursts taking down some of the rocket troops who were about to destroy the tank. Shepard leapt out with her pistol in hand, it was too close for her sniper rifle to be any use, and she needed to rapid fire of the sidearm more than the shotgun. Tali was at her side in a second, and together they headed to the opposite side of the mako to deal with the troops gathered there.

Wrex snarled as his shields dropped and fire started peppering his armour, but Kaidan was by his side in a second, supporting the bulky alien and snapping off shots from his pistol. Shepard saw a rocket troop targeting her and Tali and knocked the quarian out of the way just as the rocket was launched. There was no way she could get out of the way in time but then a black hole opened up in front of the rocket and swallowed it.

Shepard looked over to see Liara, her hand outstretched and a blue corona all around her. "Thanks for the save."

"It was my pleasure."

The corona dropped and the team got back into the ruined tank. "Let's keep the ball rolling people," Shepard said as she signalled for the Normandy, "Garrus, you've got one hour of in-system travel to get this thing ready for a fight, Wrex, you have an hour to get yourself battle ready."

Everyone nodded, and Shepard relayed the call.

Sixty-five minutes later they were touching down on a pre-garden world with a battered but functional mako and a similarly battered krogan. This time when they found the geth outpost they didn't rush in, but everyone set up with sniper rifles and picked off the rocket troops from afar. "This is almost too easy." Garrus complained.

"Yeah well according to me Shepard has four to your two." Kaidan was watching the action through a scope.

"What?"

"You said you wanted a shooting contest," The lieutenant continued, "Well Shepard's got double your score."

The turian shouldered his rifle and kept firing, the crack of sniper rifles echoing off the mountain they were perched on. Once all the targets were down the three snipers looked to the others, "Score?" Garrus asked.

Tali consulted her omni-tool, "Of thirteen total geth, Shepard has six, Garrus has four and Wrex has three."

The two aliens stared at their commander, who merely shouldered her rifle and signalled the Normandy, "Two more outposts left," She reminded them, "We're not done yet."

The third planet was a dustball, and their route to the outpost was blocked by turrets. By the time they reached a suitable sniping position the mako had already sustained a lot of damage, but they jumped out anyway and started firing. Forty seconds later every geth lay dead, "Score?" Garrus asked.

"Of nineteen total, Shepard has nine, Garrus has six, Wrex has four."

"That's impossible," The krogan snarled, but was cut off when a drop-ship swooped over them and dropped a colossus down metres from their position.

"Into the mako," Shepard instructed as the thing unfolded, and everyone followed her, the first energy bolt dropping their shields the moment the door was sealed.

"It's too close," Garrus tried to swing the barrel down, but his shot went wide over the thing's head.

Shepard made an executive decision, "Hang on."

The tyres bit down into the dirt and the mako leapt forward, barrelling down the slope at the thing. "You can't be serious," Tali moaned from her seat, crossing her hands over the harness. A second later, everyone else realised that yes, she really was serious.

The mako hit the colossus dead centre, entangling its legs on the main turret, Shepard kept the throttle down, launching them over the rim of the cliff they were on. There was barely time for a brief yelp from Liara and they were already halfway down. Shepard locked her shoulders and yelled, "Tali, thrusters, now."

The quarian slapped the button and the mako twisted in mid air, coming to a crashing halt on the cliff face, the tyres scrabbling for purchase as they carried on down. The colossus turned its head to look at them, a ball of energy gathering in its visor, and they hit the ground.

After a moment of unconsciousness Shepard looked back to her crew, "Everyone alright?"

Kaidan was first to respond, "I think my collarbone's broken, but otherwise fine."

"I'll have a headache," Garrus said dryly as blood poured from just above his eye, "But I'll be fine."

The others sounded off as well, with nothing more severe than bruising, and Shepard turned her attention to their situation.

The mako was standing upright in the dirt, pinning the colossus to the floor with its cannon. "Like a bug on a needle," Shepard grimaced, "Lovely." She signalled the Normandy, "Alright people, just one more to go and we can all relax."

"Shepard, it looks like there's another signal." Kaidan had joined Williams and the others in the cockpit as Shepard took her alien crewmates to the last outpost, "You've still got to destroy the main outpost before we're done."

For a moment, even Wrex groaned.

**AN:-** Wrex isn't as good a sniper as Garrus and Shepard for two reason. 1. I'm making a subtle jab at the friendly AI in this game (specifically their targeting AI) 2. I don't think Wrex would really have spent so much time practicing as a sniper. He's an up-close kinda guy, not a sniper. Garrus in ME2 is revealed to be a very good sniper, and my Shepard is an infiltrator.

Some more background on my Shepard here as well. When she saved by the Alliance, the first few years she was almost irrationally afraid of being on planets, afraid that they would get raided again while she was on them (yes the same could be said of space-stations, but that's why it's an irrational fear) After that she was with the Alliance and so any planet time was strictly business, and she never had one planet she would ever call home (the way Ashley did) so she just lived on space stations. I wanted to introduce that story idea earlier, but I couldn't find a way to include it, so I thought I'd just put it here in case I never get the chance to add it.


	10. Chapter 9: Rebellion

**AN:-** Backstory and more crew meal times. Garrus confronts an old foe and Shepard reveals some intimate secrets. All this and more in Chapter Nine: Rebellion!

**Chapter Nine: Rebellion**

"To a job well done." Shepard raised her glass, the humans following suit. After a moment the aliens joined them, realising they were expected to join in the gesture. "Thanks to everyone for this one, it was a team effort."

After Chakwas has spent nearly half a day patching them up after the mission, Shepard had finally managed to gather her entire crew for a meal. Even better, one of Joker's food bundles had come through, and after a little work they had produced a series of meals which everyone could and would eat, and even procured some drink for the entire crew.

Shepard looked over her crew, glad to see that there was some real integration going on. She had half expected that all the humans would sit on one side of the table and the aliens on the other, but it was a true mix. Tali and Adams were next to each other as always, with Kaidan on her left and Garrus next to him. Liara was next to her, with Chakwas on the other side. Williams and Pressly were sitting together, but they were both smiling at least.

"Still no Wrex?" Kaidan asked after Shepard had sat down and they started eating.

"He's still up against that bulkhead of his." Garrus told her, "I don't think he'll be joining us."

"Well it's his loss," Adams pointed a fork at Joker, "This is some of the best damn food I've ever had, you ever need a little patch job done, come straight to me."

The pilot smiled and mock-bowed to him, "Never fear, Joker is here for all your culinary needs." He turned to Shepard, "I hate to bring up work, but do you want me to send that data on to Alliance command yet?"

Shepard shook her head, "I wanted to talk to Tali first."

The quarian looked up, startled, "About what?"

"This data, it could be the thing you bring back for your Pilgrimage, or at the least it couldn't hurt."

"Really? You mean it?" Tali sounded almost on the verge of tears, "Thank you Commander, that will mean so much to me, to my people." Adams rested a hand on her shoulder as she took some deep breaths.

"You could go straight home now, but I hope you'll consider staying with us though. We need you, you're a good engineer, and pretty handy in a fight."

"That's an understatement," Kaidan chuckled, "She's got a hell of a knack for disrupting droids, and against the geth that's invaluable."

Adams chipped in as well, "And with her in the engine room I've been able to boost our efficiency on a near daily basis."

"So what about it Tali, are you going to stay with us?"

The quarian composed herself, "Absolutely, I would be glad to."

Shepard raised her glass again, "Then to Tali staying with us for more misadventures."

The crew chuckled and raised their glasses again, "To Tali."

They ate in silence for a few moments, when suddenly Williams turned to look up the table, "So Garrus," Everyone stiffened, "Feel like telling us where you got that target practice yet?"

The turian nodded, "Very well, since I've been comprehensively defeated by my Commander already," He nodded to Shepard, "I was under consideration to be a SPECTRE, early in my life."

"Wow, you must have been a hell of a shot when you were young."

"It was a little more general than that. They typically select hundreds of promising turians and train them. I excelled in sniper selection but my father convinced me to join C-Sec before I ever had any formal training."

"Why?"

"He thought SPECTRES had too much power and too little restraint. He was very by-the-book, didn't like the thought of anyone going outside the law." He tilted his head back to Shepard, "No offence but he wouldn't have liked you very much."

"None taken," Shepard replied, "I'm not sure I'm such a big fan of the freedom the SPECTRES get, especially if it leads to rogues like Saren."

"Well anyway I was convinced by my father, joined C-Sec, and just kept on training. I guess it was my way of rebelling against my father. He hadn't liked that I did so well on those initial tests, so I made sure I was always as good as I could be."

"That's an odd way to rebel." Kaidan told him.

"I might have been a rebellious teenager but I was still a turian, we don't believe in rebelling in quite the same way you do."

"So how about it LT?" Williams turned the conversation again, "You ever do any rebelling back in, what was it?"

"Back in BAaT?" Kaidan shook his head, "Oh no, I was far too scared to rebel, everyone was."

"I can't even imagine what it would have been like," Williams admitted.

"Well, let's just say it was hard and leave it there."

There was silence again, until the Chief turned to Joker on her left, "So you must have rebelled, with a nickname like Joker."

The pilot shook his head, "Actually I was a lot like Garrus. Doing well was my rebellion. I always got teased for being so serious, so I decided to show everyone what I could do. When I left, I was better than the instructors, and everyone knew it."

"Wow, you must have been first on the list for this ship."

"Hell yeah I was," He laughed and tapped the table, which was as close as he could come to slapping it triumphantly, "Best damn pilot in the whole Alliance fleet, thank you very much."

Shepard decided to raise her glass again, "Since we're doing this, to Joker, best damn pilot in the fleet."

Everyone laughed again and joined her in the toast. A couple of mouthfuls later and Williams was back at it, "So I suppose you were a straight-arrow in training Commander?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow and smiled innocently, prompting the chief's eyebrows to shoot up her forehead, "No way!"

Chakwas nodded knowingly, "A trauma such as you faced on Mindoir would certainly provoke extreme behaviour afterwards."

"That would be a good excuse if it hadn't started before the raid."

Now even the doctor's eyebrows were raised.

"I was sixteen and in the local high school, I had just realised my, er, preferences in companionship, and I got caught out."

"That's not real rebellion, that's just getting careless."

"I don't think you quite realise how caught out I was." Shepard smiled at her own memory, "My target had been the Dean's daughter."

Williams laughed so hard she choked on a mouthful of bread. after Pressly had pounded her on the back repeatedly she looked up at Shepard with tears in her eyes, "So you, and the Dean's daughter..."

"Got caught in flagrante," She waited for that part to sink in, then added quickly, "In the Dean's office."

The table erupted into laughter. Even the aliens got the joke, and so their laughter joined the din. Eventually it died down, and Shepard forced herself to look innocent, "I still don't see quite what was wrong, we'd made sure to hang her school tie on the doorknob and everything."

"Oh dear." Chakwas said dryly, "I suppose that was quite a report to bring home to your parents."

"I think it was quite a way for them to find out I was a lesbian actually." More chuckles, which Shepard joined in with. "I had more than a few write ups when I was off Mindoir as well. The prank involving the hyper-intelligent space hamster went on for months in the end."

"I think we're going to need to keep an eye out on this voyage," Garrus gave her a head-tilt smile, "It sounds like we may have more than we bargained on with our Commander."

"You're right you know," She leaned back and pretended to think, "I haven't played a decent prank in years." _Since Akuze,_ Part of her added, but she wasn't going to bring the mood down.

The conversation moved on, and they found out that Adams had once been put on a three week suspension for building an illegal still in the officer's mess of his first training ship. "It wasn't that I built the still," He explained, "It was that it didn't work very well, very inefficient, I was on leave until I learned to make a better calibre of alcohol."

For the most part Shepard just sat back and enjoyed the conversation; she didn't need to get involved in every little part of her crewmates' lives. Sometimes it was good to let them talk as well. Even better was seeing Williams and Pressly joining in. Reservedly perhaps, but she'd take any progress at this point.

After the meal Garrus came to her office. "Shepard I need to talk to you."

"Of course Garrus, my door is always open."

"It's about that personal project, the one I told you about a few days ago."

Shepard nodded and stood, "I assume you're asking for my help. What's the mission?"

"It's about one of my old C-Sec cases, one that never got closed. A salarian doctor, Doctor Saleon, a geneticist on the Citadel, was growing cloned organs inside various species bodies. We went after him, and I finally found him when one of his subjects began bleeding during my questioning."

"Wait," Shepard held up a hand, "A suspect started bleeding in questioning? This was an interrogation, wasn't it?"

"Call it what you want it got me what I needed. He spilled everything, and we went after Saleon, but he escaped on a cruiser full of his own test subjects. I told C-Sec to shoot him down but I was countermanded. He escaped and I've been trying to track him ever since."

"You wanted C-Sec to shoot down an unarmed cruiser, filled with hostages, while over the Citadel?" Shepard leaned back against her desk, "Garrus, I don't think I like where this takes us."

"I found him, is where it takes us, and you're a SPECTRE, you can bring the law down on him, make him pay for his crimes."

"But you don't want me to bring the law down on him do you." It wasn't a question, "I'm a SPECTRE, above the law, and you've already said that that's one of the reasons you like the SPECTREs so much. You don't want justice, you want an executioner."

Garrus bristled, his fringe shifting to make his face look bigger, "I just want all of his victims to have some peace."

"And you want to clear up the one that got away." She shot back, "This is all macho posturing, there's nothing legal here."

"Doctor Saleon is an illegal geneticist growing organs in humans, I am asking you, a SPECTRE, upholder of truth and justice, to bring him in, now are you going to do your job or not?"

Shepard met his eyes until he looked away. "I will investigate any data you think you have, but you're not coming with me."

His eyes snapped up again, "You have to take me with you, this is my arrest!"

"Really?" She folded her arms, "So you'd go in with handcuffs and a warrant and read him his rights?"

"There was never time for a warrant, by the time we got one he had already escaped."

"Listen to yourself Garrus, 'there was no time for a warrant'? This isn't justice, it's cowboy policing, and I won't be a part of it." She reconsidered, "If you come with me then you go unarmed."

"Against a madman like Saleon? I'd be a sitting duck."

"You'd be backed up by at least two other heavily armed crewmates, the only difference is that we aren't just going to shoot on sight. Those are my terms, take it or leave it."

He swelled up to his full height, an impressive gesture, but then deflated, "Fine, if that's what it takes Shepard, then I'll go unarmed, but I'll go on the mission."

"Give Joker the coordinates and tell Liara to suit up."

He nodded, "Yes ma'am."

After he had left there was only a moment's pause before Kaiden was knocking at her door. "I heard raised voices, is everything okay?"

"It's fine Kaidan, I'm just having a little trouble with Garrus."

"Garrus? I thought he was a straitlaced C-Sec officer."

She smiled wryly and sat behind the desk, "Apparently under all that pomp he's just as human as the rest of us."

Kaidan gave a rare smile, "I know what you mean. As long as you don't need anyone else for the mission though?"

"You heard about the mission? How loud was I shouting?"

"You tend to get a little vocal when you're emotional Commander."

It might have been an innocent comment to him, but it reminded Shepard a little too much of something she had heard when she was a sixteen year old. "I apologise, and no, just Garrus and Liara for this one, it's just a routine arrest, if it's even the right doctor."

"Very good Commander," Kaidan saluted and left.

Shepard smiled to herself as she pulled up her armour specifics, glad she finally had a chance to make use of the armour mods she had picked up. Kaidan was a good officer, and one day he was going to make a fine Commander himself, she just had to get him there, and she had a feeling the instruction was going to be a lot of fun.

The ship wasn't deserted, not according to the logs, but it sure as hell felt like it. It creaked and moaned as they cycled through the first few doors, and the carrier of boxes in the cargo hold did nothing for the uneasy feeling in her gut.

Liara seemed just as uncomfortable as her, but Garrus was striding ahead with that same calm determination of his. He rounded a corner and was shoved back into a bulkhead. "Shepard, hostiles!"

Liara and Shepard both drew, sprinting round the corner to come face to face with a desiccated skeletal figure, swinging its arms wildly. For a moment Shepard hesitated, and in that moment it vomited green slurry over Liara, who cried out in pain and dropped to the deck clawing at her face. Shepard blew it in half with her shotgun, ducking down to help Liara scrape the gunk away. The asari's skin was already beginning to blister and her breath came hard in her chest.

Another wail echoed round the bay and more of the husks came for them. Garrus scooped up Liara's dropped pistol and started firing, all business. Shepard was more focused on Liara but then the scientist managed a smile and pulled Shepard's own pistol off her back. Reassured, Shepard joined the others in taking down the creatures as quickly as possible.

When they were done Liara got shakily to her feet and they hurried on through to the next section of the ship, opening one of the doors to find a laboratory with a salarian inside. There was blood on the tools of all colours, and some of it was still fresh.

The salarian was panicky, "Thank you, thank you for saving me from those things."

Garrus pulled the borrowed pistol up and aimed. "Liara!" Shepard yelled, and the asari threw a barrier around Garrus, freezing him in place.

"Commander that's him, that's Doctor Saleon!" The turian insisted.

"What! My name is heart, Doctor Heart."

Shepard ignored the doctor, turning instead to Garrus. "Are you sure its him?"

"Positive," Garrus swivelled his eyes to look back at the doctor, "There's no escape this time doctor, I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time." Something in his tone told Shepard this wasn't an idle threat.

The doctor clearly agreed with her, "You're crazy, he's crazy, please don't let him do this to me."

Garrus' word on his identity wasn't exactly sound at the moment, but a ship full of test subjects and being caught in a lab stained with blood was bad whoever he was, "We'll take him in, drop him off with the military."

Garrus struggled against the field, "But we have him, we can't let him get away, not again."

Shepard gestured to the bizarre equipment around the lab, "If he dies we'll never know what he's been up to, or how he did it, we'll take him in interrogate him and he'll serve his time."

"I've," Even inside the barrier she could see him sag, "Okay, you're right," He turned his attention back to the doctor. "You're a very lucky salarian, you owe the commander your life."

"Oh thank you so very much," The doctor drawled, pulling a pistol from behind his back.

Shepard drew and fired with barely a thought, the slug taking the top of the salarian's head off. His eyes had time to cross and stare at the top of his skull before the lifeless body collapsed under him. Liara dropped the shield.

"And so he dies anyway, what was the point of that?"

Shepard frowned, more the a little tired of trying to explain things to him, "You can't predict how people will act Garrus, but you can control how you'll respond." She shrugged some of the tension out of her shoulders, "In the end that's what really matters."

"Yeah." He still didn't sound convinced, "I don't think I ever met anyone like you commander, well I guess we're done here."

Shepard nodded and led them back through the ghost ship to the Normandy, glad to be away.

**AN:-** I have no idea why, but I wanted to somehow include the phrase '_in flagrante with the Dean's daughter' _at some point in this fic. I also have an idea that I might have to defend this particular revelation about Shepard's past. I included it, at the age Shepard was, for several reasons. The first is that Shepard had to have had this experience before the slaver attack, because otherwise it might make her later behaviour seem as if it was indeed trauma-related, as Chakwas stated, and I didn't want there to be the doubt that Shepard's relationship with Liara might still be seen as somehow 'acting out', given the way I write her. The game states that Shepard was sixteen when the slavers hit, which didn't give me much choice. Also, I don't necessarily see why 21st century primarily American morals would apply on 22nd century Mindoir, a colony which could have been established by any culture with any notion about age of consent etc. I also don't think that in the future homosexuality would stand as a barrier to joining the military, as it does in America at the moment.

Also, my perspective is, I will admit, skewed. I'm British, so all my life I have 'known' that the age of consent is 16, not 18 as it primarily is in America, and I found out recently that the ban on homosexuality in the British army has been revoked, and I don't see why that won't eventually be continued. These are just my personal beliefs. Also, even though Liara may technically be genderless, she sure as heck doesn't look it, so I wanted to establish Shepard as being at least bisexual before the relationship really got under way. (For the record I consider my Shepard to be entirely homosexual, just from a writing standpoint).

Other plot-points: Shepard's rebellion. This partly came about as a result of my Shepard's appearance. Given the fact that I gave her a very slightly upturned button nose and the very pulled back ponytail hair she has a tendency to look quite aloof and haughty, so I thought it would be fun to make her a lot more fun-loving than she looks. I know I haven't given a lot of direct description of Shepard, because I was hoping people could do that themselves and create their own Shepard for my story (in part) but that's just what I'm working from, this very aloof looking Shepard, who I wanted to make funnier. Also, the Paragon options often tend to make Shepard look more than a little uptight, so I wanted to balance that out.

Garrus and the others' rebellion. Aliens with different social codes will have a different standard for 'rebellion.' I would think that Garrus striving to become excellent at something his father disapproves of would be a perfect way of turian rebellion. It fits into the social code of bettering oneself, but still provides a personal rebellion.

Note of trivia: hyper-intelligent space hamster ongoing prank. This is a combination of Boo the space hamster from Baldur's Gate and the Ewok 'Ketch' from the X-Wing: Wraith Squadron series. For the uninformed, Boo is a miniature Giant Space Hamster and companion to one of the characters of Baldur's gate, another Bioware game. Ketch was a fictional Ewok pilot invented by Liuetenant Wes Janson in order to torment Wedge Antilles. This plot point may or may not return depending on whether I remember it in another few thousand words.


	11. Chapter 10: Noveria

**AN:- **I think there was a galaxy saving plot somewhere under all this interpersonal interaction. Oh yeah, here it is.

**Chapter Ten: Noveria**

It had been nearly two week s since they had collected Liara from Therum, and when she looked over her logs Shepard had to admit that it looked like she was putting off the hunt for Saren. She helped out several of her crew, yes, and stopped a major geth incursion, but she still had yet to search her two most promising leads, Noveria and Feros.

A chime at her door pulled her out of her focus on the log, and she looked up to see Liara entering. It had taken a while for her to convince the asari that it was okay to just enter, but every time Liara still looked like a child caught out at hide and seek when she came through the door.

"It's good to see you Liara," She closed the log and stood, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well I just wanted to share some data with you," The scientist activated her omni-tool and downloaded some files to Shepard's back-up computer, which was currently being used for her Codex and data entries while the main computer was occupied with mission briefings and personnel files. Not that one computer couldn't handle both, but security issues abounded.

"What's up?"

"It is all these data disks we've been collecting, the Prothean ruins we have collected data on..." Whenever they stumbled across something Prothean while on a planet's surface they always tried to bring something back for Liara.

"Is there something we need to know for the mission?"

"I am not sure, but there does seem to be more mention of the various planets that the Prothean's studied and lived on. It looks like they barely used any of the planets now colonised, in fact, planets that we would consider uninhabitable were the Prothean's homes, except in some rare cases."

"That would explain why we can't find any data on them anymore, their planets were glassed completely, nothing survived except remote outposts."

"Well that is what concerns me now." Liara sat at one of the spare chairs and flicked through some data, letting Shepard read some of the geological comparisons.

"I'll be honest Liara, this is mostly just strings of random numbers to me.

"I just wonder why the Reapers left certain planets, whether there was a pattern to it all, or whether it was random destruction."

"I'm afraid my vision can't help much more with that."

The asari sighed, "I did not think so, but it might be an idea to pursue one of our definite leads on Saren. It seems that wherever he goes, there is more Prothean technology."

Shepard grinned, "I was just thinking that. I suppose you have a destination in mind?"

"I wanted to go to Noveria, even if we do not find evidence of Saren and the geth there are research labs and data terminals there that we could mine for information." At the mere mention of research Liara's eyes had lit up again.

"Very well," Shepard clapped her hands together, "We're off to Noveria, I'll tell Joker immediately."

"Excellent Shepard." Liara went to leave, but paused at the door, "I do not mean to pry, but I wished to ask about your time on Mindoir."

"Ah," Shepard remembered the last time she had mentioned her childhood, "You want to talk about the Dean's daughter?"

"Not exactly. I looked into your file Shepard, and I read that the colony you grew up on was destroyed."

"Yes it was."

"Your entire family, all your friends, they did not survive?"

"If they did I didn't hear about it. As far as I know I'm the only survivor of Mindoir." It still felt odd to say, all these years later.

"It must have been horrible for you."

"It wasn't easy. If I was rebellious on Mindoir it was nothing compared to how I was after. It took getting into the mess on Akuze to straighten me out at all."

Liara winced, "So much tragedy in your life Shepard, I hope this mission will not add to it."

Shepard smiled at her, "There are benefits to living my life."

"Such as?"

"I got to meet you."

"Shepard I don't know what to say. This is very sudden."

"I agree; if I'm out of line, just tell me."

"You are not, uh, 'out of line,'" She struggled with the idiom, "I just need to think about this."

"I understand, take all the time you need."

The asari nodded, still frozen in place. Suddenly she realised what was doing and straightened, all business again, "Noveria then."

"Noveria," Shepard confirmed, "We need to get access to terminals for you, and any information we can turn up on Saren and the geth as well."

Shepard was with Joker in the cockpit as they drew in the Normandy, "Approach control this is the SSV Normandy requesting a vector and a berth."

"Normandy your arrival is not scheduled, our defence grid is armed and tracking, state your business."

"Citadel business, we got a council SPECTRE aboard."

"Granting access, Normandy. Be advised we will be confirmed identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established your vessel will be impounded."

"What a fun bunch," Joker turned back to smile at Williams who was in her place to her right. "I think I'll take my next leave here." She smiled back at him, then looked to Shepard, who nodded to the two of them.

"Williams you stay up here, I'm not taking many out on this trip, we're just gathering intel."

She signalled Garrus, Tali and Liara. No point causing undue stress by bringing Wrex along, and if she left Kaidan on the ship Williams might feel a little less put upon. She decided they would go armoured and armed anyway, if there were geth on Noveria, it wouldn't do to get caught out.

They had barely got twenty feet down the docking bay when a platoon of security stepped up.

"That's far enough." The leader told them.

Shepard held up her hands, "We're not here to cause problems." It was a little hard to be reassuring of peace when you had some of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy strapped to your back, but she tried nonetheless.

"This is an unspecified arrival, I need your credentials."

"I'm a spectre, my name is Shepard."

The sergeant spoke up, "Load of horse-crap ma'am."

The captain was a little more diplomatic, "We will need to confirm that." She looked distinctly uncomfortable, "Also I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria," She turned to her subordinate, "Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."

Shepard drew her pistol before the sergeant could take a step, "It would not be wise to search for the geth unarmed." Liara said from behind her.

Shepard considered, it would do no good to kill the Noverian security, and until they knew there were geth they wouldn't even need weapons, "Stand down, their house, their rules."

Tali's voice was uncertain, "I'll be behind you, that armour's in good condition?"

A voice came over the intercom, "Captain Matsuo stand down. We confirmed their identity, SPECTREs are authorised to carry weapons here captain."

"You may proceed Shepard I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."

The sergeant couldn't resist a parting shot, "Behave yourself," She growled as they marched past.

Up the stairs they triggered the weapons alarms immediately, but an elegant woman in a red dress came over, "I am Giana Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologise for the incident in the docking bay."

"I appreciate your help." Shepard already had the feeling that diplomacy was going to be her best tool on this planet.

"You're welcome, you understand our security chief was only doing her job. One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals do you have any questions?"

"Pretty heavy security for such a small port." Garrus remarked.

"The executive board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of its client corporations."

That didn't sound promising, "I can't have my investigation hampered."

"Tread lightly, the board can bury you in litigation, you'd need an asari lawyer to see the case through."

If this woman was high enough rank she would probably know about the geth, or someone who might have been carrying them, "Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?"

"Unusual? An asari matriarch passed through a few days ago, Lady Benezia."

Liara's voice held all the shock Shepard felt, "Benezia, she is here?"

"Can I speak with her?"

"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago, to the best of my knowledge she's still there."

_No one can ever just stay in one place, _"Could you tell me how to get there?"

"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port."

_And no one can ever just have a simple solution, _"Where can I find the administrator?"

"His office is on the main level left at the top of the elevator."

"Understood. Can we go in now?" At this point she wouldn't have been surprised if they required you to pass an arbitrary maths test to get in.

The assistant was all smiles, "Of course, if you need any help you can ask me at the administrator's office."

After she had gone Shepard turned back to Liara, who was looked flustered.

"She is here, I can't believe it," She looked up to meet Shepard's eyes, "I imagine you want to talk to me Shepard, about my mother."

"No we don't," It was simple enough, it might have only been two weeks, but it was enough, "I trust you Liara, you may not be military but you're a part of my crew." _And maybe more,_ she would have added if Garrus and Tali hadn't been there.

"Thank you Sheppard, that means a great deal to me."

Noveria was an odd mixture of stone and glass. It looked like someone had started building an old fashioned fortress, then halfway through decided that it need a more modern feel. _Funny how modern seems to be designs which could have come straight out of Star Trek,_ Shepard mused as the elevator doors 'swooshed' shut behind them. She was a big fan of the old Earth TV show, now and then she even felt like she was channelling Picard when she spoke to people.

The administrator's office was easy enough to find, and when she walked through the foyer Parasini was already there. _That was fast, must be a private elevator somewhere in this place._

"How can I help you?"

"I'd like to speak to Anoleis."

"One moment please," Her tone was beyond bland, "Mr Anoleis."

The translator rendered the response into the slightly nasal tone of a salarian, "Yes? What, what?"

"Commander Sheppard is asking to see you sir."

"Right fine come in."

Giana waved them through, and they approached the desk of a purple skinned salarian.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain colonial rubes."

It wasn't the first time she had been insulted over her background. Most people usually stopped when they spoke to her and realised that her education had been more than sufficient, "I see you looked up my service record."

"Only a fool enters into negotiations without knowledge of the other parties tendencies," _And you think looking up my service record can tell you my tendencies?_ "This greeting is a courtesy, I will only cooperate as required by the executive board, businesses come here to avoid the second guessing of galactic law."

That caused a frown, "Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?"

"Don't be ridiculous, do you think a for-profit company would take no precautions against loss of life and material?" She got the feeling it was more the interest in material people were concerned about, "Project leads have the final say here, not meddlesome politicians."

"Do you do business with Saren?" Straight to the point then, maybe she could plow her way through the red tape.

"Agent Saren? One of your SPECTRE compatriots? He's a major investor in Binary Helix Corporation; which is one of Noveria's backers." It was remarkable how little he could impart with so many words.

She tried a different tack, "I've heard an asari matriarch is here, Benezia?" She swore that she heard Liara flinch behind her.

"She arrived a few days ago accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo, she's up at Peak 15."

"What can you tell me about her cargo?"

"Large heavy and sealed. It passed weapons screening, beyond that it is not our concern."

"What do you mean by personal escort"

"The phrase is self explanatory, bodyguards attending to the safety of her person mainly asari commandos." He was clearly enjoying not telling her anything.

Tali voiced a concern, "Commandos? Odd that you shouldn't mind their presence."

"They followed all our regulations," _Including your weapon regulations? Sure._ "I had no reason to forbid lady Benezia from taking them."

"I'd like to see her immediately."

"I'm afraid that you cannot." Now she knew he was enjoying himself, he had smug written all over him, "Peak 15 is a private facility in the Scadi Mountains, regardless there is a blizzard in the area, shuttles are grounded and surface access has been cut off."

"Surface access you say?"

"Cut off I said," He was doing it to spite her now. So much for the brute force approach, "The roads are not suitable for travel; don't make an issue of this Shepard."

"Let him be stubborn," Tali advised, "I'm sure someone else here is willing to help us."

She agreed, nodding to the administrator. "I have no more questions at this time."

She was already halfway out the door, but not fast enough to avoid hearing his snide comment. _If it's not one thing it's another. _She sighed as she came back round to the front desk.

"Mr Analeis isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan," Giana said in a sing-song voice as she walked past. Shepard went over to the assistant, who gave her the same bland smile, "You've never worked in the corporate world have you Commander? You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy."

"So it would seem, I need an alternative."

Giana's voice lowered to a practical whisper, "Talk to Lorik Qu'in." Tali was already entering the name into her omni-tool, "You should be able to find him at the hotel bar," Giana glanced back to the administrator's office, "Can't say more, not within earshot of Mister Analeis."

Shepard nodded understanding and motioned her people to follow her out.

**AN:-** A shorter update for this one. I want to try and contain the main action of Noveria into three chapters, maybe four. Part One: Actually arriving on Noveria; Part Two: Getting to Peak 15, Part 3: Peak 15 (probably a _very_ long chapter, or split in two)

Not much else to say, I've been playing and writing for nearly 14 continuous hours now, so I hope you'll excuse me not updating more today. I need to eat and sleep at some point. Maybe more updates tomorrow, if not then as soon as.


	12. Chapter 11: Intrigue and Red Tape

**AN:-** I think the Noveria section is going to be a lot longer than I anticipated, maybe as high as five chapters. I will be trying to cut this down, and when i return to edit the story this will probably be one of the biggest areas for trimming, but right now I'm just trying to get the whole thing finished. Enjoy Chapter Eleven: Intrigue and Red Tape

**Chapter Eleven: Intrigue and Red Tape**

Qu'in was easy to find, holed up at one of the tables at the local nightclub. Shepard marched right up to him, knowing she wasn't quite thinking straight. Her encounter with Anoleis had annoyed her, more than she wanted to admit, and she wanted a quick solution. At her side Liara was still reeling from the news that her mother was there, and Shepard at least owed it to the young asari to get her to Benezia, whatever else happened.

Qu'in almost seemed to be expecting them, "Afternoon, sit down, have a drink. What can I do for you?"

"I heard you might be able to help me."

"You are the SPECTRE who just arrived are you not?" Her reputation was preceding her, and on Noveria that didn't seem to be a good thing. "What can an old turian like me possibly help you with?"

He seemed straightforward enough, she went for honesty, "I'm trying to find a way into the garage. I have places to go."

"You need a pass, how fortuitous." She knew immediately what was coming. _Why can't anyone just help me with me having to clear up their lives? Doesn't my position mean anything?_ "I'm the manager of the local synthetic insights office, for the moment at least. Mister Anoleis closed my office he claims to be investigating reports of my corruption."

He performed the exact same head-tilt half-smile Garrus always did. "The administrator is an interesting man, he has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents."

"I sense a connection there," Shepard deadpanned.

"Indeed. I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it." He leaned back and ovserved her band of misfits, "I suspect your goal lies outside this port, Mister Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office I will give you my garage pass."

"You have a plan?" So far he had been one of the most direct people she had spoken to on the whole planet, which was refreshing.

"I do. However there is one other, oh what is that charming human expression, 'fly in the lotion?' Violence against Mister Anoleis thugs may be necessary." Shepard wasn't exactly surprised, but it would cause problems. "He has members of Hanshan's security team searching my offices. He's paying them under the table; Ms Matsuo is unaware of their... outside employment."

She wasn't going to be involved in cop killing if she could help it, and she certainly wasn't going to discuss it in broad daylight in a hotel lounge. "I'll focus on trying to get your evidence, if I'm lucky I won't have to fight anyone."

"Excellent, here is the pass into my offices it will activate the elevator. The evidence is on my office e computer, this OSD contains an encryption key to access it, slide it into the drive and it will auto execute." It was almost too easy, as she turned to leave he shrugged a little, "And do try to keep bloodstains off of the carpet would you?"

The path back to Synthetic Insights was easy enough to follow, and just as Qu'in had said his pass-card opened the elevator for them. While in the elevator everyone readied their weapons, but kept them locked, just in case. Shepard didn't want to be the cause of a shootout. There were some guards just inside the door.

"Freeze Hanshan security this office is sealed."

"Lorik Qu'in gave me a pass in." She actually enjoyed being on the right side.

"Qu'in? Are you working for him? He's under investigation."

Shepard gave the officer a look of contempt, "Anoleis is paying you to shake this place down. Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?"

The officer was immediately placating, "Hey I'm not the one who wants Qu'in; Anoleis has a varren up his ass about this guy. How about this you pretend you didn't see us, we'll pretend we didn't see you?" Shepard nodded and the two guards ran past them.

Unfortunately someone else had spotted them, and a bullet pinged her shields as the rest of the security team opened fire.

"Lay down your weapons and no one gets hurt!" She bellowed, but either they couldn't hear her or they weren't listening, and several more bullets impacted, "Get to cover," She told her team, "And try to shoot to wound, we don't need innocent cops blood on our hands." No one pointed out that the cops weren't exactly innocent, but that was largely because everyone was more interested in trying to keep their heads on their shoulders.

The firefight didn't last long, and as far as she could tell no one was dead yet. With any luck whatever Hanshan had in the way of medical facilities would collect and fix up the injured men, but she had bigger problems. She led her team up to the main office and set Tali downloading the data. While they were in there the door opened again and admitted the sergeant and a small squad of men. Shepard took Liara and Garrus and met them coming up the stairs.

"I don't think you're supposed to be in here Shepard."

"You have me at a disadvantage miss?" There was always time for manners.

"Oh, now you're gonna show some respect?" The blond sneered at her, "I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, Alanis Risk Control Services. Anoleis would throw you off world for what you did here, I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on mine?" She meant it as a threat, but there was much worse out there.

While Shepard would have preferred to stay quiet, Garrus stepped forward with a threatening growl, "You know what we do to dirty cops on mine?"

Shepard struggled to bring back some control, "I didn't want to fight them they fired first."

"Too bad for you, I can take you even without this hardware," The sergeant glowed blue with a biotic corona, but it was more for show. Even the most powerful human biotics generally took a while to warm up, whereas asari tended to be more hair trigger. Liara's cannon-like blast threw the sergeant back over the railings to impact heavily with the floor.

Garrus was up and firing before the deputies could even clear their guns from the magna-strips. Two men went down clutching their legs while Shepard sent a third flying with a sniper shot to his weapon. The gun split in half and the force was transferred to the man's chest. All of the weapon's force, none of the penetration. It was an old trick.

Tali dashed up holding the OSD in triumph, "Ready to move out."

"You get down the elevator," Shepard told them, "I need to make sure of something."

They obeyed, and she was left to check on Stirling, who had already run off deeper into the office. "This isn't helping anything Stirling!" She yelled as she drew her shotgun, "You can't escape me in here."

A shotgun blast splayed across her shields and Shepard was forced behind cover. She spotted the ARCS officer hiding behind a potted plant, still glowing blue. "I see you," She yelled and fired a couple of rounds. The biotic field flared and absorbed the shots. _Great, she's got a full biotic barrier going._

Shepard was not an expert on biotics. The most she knew about the fields was that they could be overloaded by putting enough rounds into them and tiring out the creator. She switched to her assault rifle and braced for more accurate blasts but the sergeant was already sprinting from cover, heading right for the SPECTRE.

"Oh darn," Shepard gasped, just as the biotic caught her by the throat and slammed her against a wall, cutting off her air supply. Shepard had perhaps thirty seconds before she blacked out, but that was more than enough time to draw her pistol and shotgun out. She didn't waste time on pithy comments or warnings, placing the muzzles of both guns against Stirling's abdomen and opening fire.

The biotic field flared bright enough to blind her and then disappeared, the sergeant's shield going with it. Shepard let go of the shotgun and clocked her opponent in the face, sending her sprawling. The sergeant still wasn't done, and rolled under Shepard's guard, trying to bring her shotgun back into play. A single shot finally overloaded Shepard's shields, which sparked out as the power cells struggled to bring them back up.

Tired of giving her chances Shepard knocked the gun aside and shot Stirling in the stomach, the heavy pistol round blowing clean through her and impacting on a wall on the other side of the office. The blond gasped and clutched at her stomach, staring at Shepard in surprise. "You can't do that!" She protested.

Shepard held the pistol firm, "Next one goes between your eyes. Are you going to drop that gun or are you going to call my bluff?"

The sergeant was stuck. Clearly she had no future on Noveria, and if Anoleis had briefed her at all on the data in Qu'in's office she knew it would spell the end of her under-the-table work. She didn't want to die, and a SPECTRE was a tough opponent, but on the other hand, all she had to do was get her shotgun round and fire in the next few seconds before Shepard's shield came back, and she was home free.

Shepard saw it like it was in slow motion, the sudden determination flowing into the sergeant's eyes, the slight drop as the muscle of the shoulder tensed and started to come around, her own finger tightened on the trigger and she wished for half a second that Stirling really was moving as slowly as she seemed, but there was no time for Shepard to shift her own aim.

The gun had almost no recoil in her hands as the slug left at near light velocity and drilled a hole through Stirling's head. Shepard carried on firing, squeezing the trigger as fast as the gun's action allowed. The problem with the eezo slugs was that all too often they moved too fast, punching clean through a body while doing little damage. She had once seen a commanding officer given a nasty knife wound from a terrorist who really should have been dead after all the rounds pumped through him.

Stirling's eyes actually had time to register the shock of her death before she fell, Shepard's rounds taking out all the major tendons and arteries before putting another into the base of the spinal column. At the very least, she had given the sergeant a painless death, and hopefully one she wouldn't be conscious of. But despite even that she felt the accusing stare burning into her as the cop finally dropped.

_Sometimes, I really hate this job._ She averted her eyes from the destruction she had caused, snatching her discarded shotgun up and holstering all her weapons. As far as she could see, the only dead ARCS guard was Stirling, but that wasn't much comfort to her.

Parasini was waiting at the bottom of the elevator, along with her team, who were standing half a foot away and looking very uncomfortable. "Commander," She was still just as chipper, and Shepard had to resist the urge to just shove right past her, "There've been reports of noise from the Synthetic Insights office, would you know anything about it?"

"It's probably Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart." Her voice didn't crack, but it was much harder than she'd wanted. _So much for trying to play it cool._

"Smart ass huh," Parasini's entire demeanour changed, her posture lcoking up and her voice becoming deeper and sharper, "That's fine, I can work with that. Meet me at the hotel for a drink, _before_ you talk to Qu'in, I'll be waiting."

She gathered her squad and led them back to the main concourse, where she took a moment to liaise with the ship. "I need reports filed on Noveria through the ARCS in the last half hour." She instructed her crew.

"Last report was on a private encrypted channel to one 'K Stirling.'" Kaidan reported, "Nothing after that."

"You causing trouble down there Commander?" Joker's voice came through, "Because I don't wanna have to abandon port in a hurry.

"No more trouble than usual Joker."

"Oh Lord," His voice came back immediately, "I really don't want to have another volcano rescue on my hands."

"Stow it," She wasn't in the mood for his humour, "Keep checking the airwaves, if any reports go through to the Administrator about the ARCS, raise me immediately."

"Yes ma'am." Even Joker knew when to shut up and obey orders.

Still not thoroughly convinced, Shepard still went over to Parasini when she entered the bar.

The woman seemed a lot more tense than when they had met before, it was a look Shepard knew, the tension of a bodyguard, constantly checking for threats, "Allow me to reintroduce myself, Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs."

"Why is an Internal Affairs agent here?" Her question wasn't quite asking about the state of the entire planet, but it was clear Parasini got the implication.

"The executive board knows about Anoleis' corruption, I've been under cover for six months. I want you to convince Qu'in to testify before the board, with his evidence, this planet could run profitably again."

"I need Qu'ins garage pass."

"You help my investigation I'll provide you whatever you need favour for a favour." This was an entirely different person, she was much blunter, and her body language was aggressive. Shepard smiled, finally she had someone she could deal with.

Behind her, Liara spoke, "In the long run it is better to remove the source of the problem."

"Look Shepard I don't like this either, you SPECTREs play fast and loose with the law. That's bad for business."

The accusation was enough for her, "Alright! I'll talk to Qu'in and see if I can convince him."

"Thank you." Parasini nodded to her, "You know where I work, come talk to me once you know if he's going to play ball."

Qu'in was right where she had left him, "Always a pleasure SPECTRE" Getting to referred to by title alone was getting real old, real fast, "Any news on that matter I asked you to look into?"

"I finished the job but an Internal Affairs investigator contacted me, she wants you to testify against Anoleis."

For the first time Qu'in showed some real emotion, "Now that you have my property you want to dictate how I use it, I have no interest in a public spectacle."

She felt Garrus tense up behind her, and knew enough that the turian's attitude towards an authority figure was bothering her teammate, "Everyone on this station is chafing under Anoleis' extortion, you might end up a hero." She pointed out to Qu'in.

"My employers rely on the goodwill of the executive boards to work here."

"The board was already investigating Anoleis," Tali stepped in, "They're concerned about the worm in their own fruit."

The turian sighed, his anger mostly gone, "Alright, it is obvious that I cannot dissuade you. Very well, I will testify. Make whatever arrangements you need with your contact I will wait here."

After getting confirmation that no one had yet reported to Anoleis about the firefight Shepard went to the Administrator's office.

"SPECTRE, have you given any more consideration to my offer?"

"It took some persuasion but Qu'in has agreed to testify."

"Huh, that's a world of stress of my back, I'll take the evidence for safe transport,"Tali handed over the OSD, "Hm, I didn't think you'd help me, being a SPECTRE and all. I guess some of you can be alright." She straightened and drew a badge from inside her dress. "I have an arrest to make, wish I had time to change into something easy to move in, I hate skirts."

Shepard waited while Parasini went back into her boss' office. Unfortunately the sound didn't carry through the glass but in a moment she heard the door swish open.

"This is an outrage!" Anoleis was shouting, "I'll see that you never work in this sector again."

"Yeah, yeah, get a move on."

He turned to Shepard's group, "You, Shepard, I demand you place this bitch under arrest!"

Parasini cuffed him on the ear for good measure,"You have the right to remain silent, I wish to god you'd exercise it," She turned to Shepard as well, "Your pass has been approved, see you around the galaxy commander, I owe you a beer."

The parking garage wasn't that far along from Synthetic Insights, and once she had convinced the guard of her pass Shepard was allowed straight through. Inside she heard a familiar chittering over the airwaves, and reading her pistol automatically. Sure enough a band of geth tried to ambush her squad, leaping out from behind the stacked crates.

Liara pulsed blue and the robots were sent flying, a concentrated burst of fire from the four of them and all opponents lay in bits. Shepard turned to see Captain Matsuo rushing through the doors.

"What did you do here Commander?" Hopefully she hadn't heard about Synthetic Insights as well, or Shepard was in trouble.

"Me? I'm the victim here the geth attacked us."

"Geth, you expect me to..." Matsuo got a look at the bodies, and stuttered to a halt, "Where did they come from?"

"If I were to guess," Garrus' tone dripped with sarcasm, he clearly didn't think much of their security. "The matriarch packed them in the shipping containers she arrived with."

"I don't believe that, we did thorough scans of those, there were no power sources no elements zero signs, if Benezia-sama's containers were packed with those things, there are many more out there."

Shepard closed her eyes for a second and tried to resist sighing for what felt like the millionth time in a single mission, "I need numbers captain, a dozen, a hundred?" _Please just one or two crates._

It could never be that easy, "Dozens at least, they're machines, you could pack them tightly. I must report to the executive board, if word gets out about loose geth there may be an investor panic." _Killer robots on the loose in the base and everyone's worried about their profit margins._

She watched the ARCS leave and radioed the Normandy. "How soon can the rest of you be here?" She asked.

"I don't know commander," Williams' voice came back, "We haven't really got any weapons prepped right now. Could be a half hour or more."

"We'll have to risk it. Be ready, there's second mako here you can use, but we're going to go on ahead and get into this base. We need to get to Peak 15 before Benezia realises someone's after her. These geth could have already sent off a communication."

"Understood commander, we'll be with you as soon as possible."

"Good job, and don't let security stand in your way." She couldn't quite believe she was giving the order, "Don't kill anyone, but the priority is reaching us, understood?"

"Yes ma'am. Uh," She heard Kaidan rushing back out of the cockpit, "Did you mean for me to come as well ma'am?"

Shepard considered for thirty seconds, as long as she could spare, "Suit up Williams, you're in too."

There was barely contained glee on the other end, "Yes ma'am, on our way."

**AN:-** I think the 'You know what we do to dirty cops' line is actually Wrex's, but it seemed appropriate coming from Garrus, especially considering that this is after Garrus has started to flaunt the law a little. He's becoming more of a loose cannon already, which of course also ties in to his later actions in ME2.

There's not much more to say about this chapter really. The backup team is probably going to become another feature of the story, especially given that on Feros and the Citadel your team is just sitting there the whole time, and could easily come charging in after you if you called them.


	13. Chapter 12: Peak 15

**AN:-** Yeah, it's gonna be five chapters. Noveria is _LONG!_ Hopefully it won't be too dull for everyone, I've tried to skip over as much as I can, but still keep the important stuff. Enjoy Chapter Twelve.

**Chapter Twelve: Peak 15**

The mako bucked a little as they got out onto the mountain side, and Garrus immediately shot her a look. She didn't have to ask him what the problem was, even she wasn't so sure about her ability to get them through the blizzard. She had to try though, and after assigning Garrus to pull double duty on the guns while Tali took her usual place on the thrusters, she goosed the engine and started them off.

It wasn't pleasant, the viewscreen was practically useless, and the 3D topographic map only extended a few metres around the vehicle, meaning that she would be right on the edge of a drop into the abyss before the computer realised it. After a few minutes she found that the best option was to hug the cliff face on the opposite side and use it to navigate. Liara fed her map data, letting her know that there was a while to go. Peak 15 was buried in the mountain, past two tunnels and a mile or so of winding ice-covered mountain.

Around the first bend they found another problem, as a geth armature knocked out half their shields with a single blast. Garrus launched a shot which blew an entire leg off, removing the immediate threat, but the shot had taken out their engines, and it would take a few seconds to restart them. In those few seconds the mako was being blown dangerously close to the ravine.

Garrus spun the gun round and fired a blast into the ice, forming a temporary crater which the mako dropped into. The wheels caught, but it wouldn't last. Shepard pushed away from the control panel as Garrus shoved past her and pulled himself under the dashboard, tearing the panel off with his bare hands.

"Stupid thing not calibrated right," He grunted as he crossed some wires, "We should have brought our own make, it wouldn't have this problem."

"Very good Garrus," There was a note of panic in Liara's voice, "But can you make it work?"

In answer he thumped the underside of the dashboard and the engine gurgled into life again. Without getting out from under the desk he tapped some controls and the mako reversed up the cliff face, away from danger.

"We can't get hit by the armature again," He warned Shepard as she took the controls back, "That patch is only good for the one hit."

"I understand."

It was a harrowing trip, the wind threatening to constantly blow them to their deaths, and snatching their shots away at crucial moments. Several times Shepard was forced to simply run over enemies instead of waiting for the guns to cool long enough to fire again. Thankfully there were no more armatures, but their mako was spotted and pitted from small arms fire by the time they drew to a close outside Peak 15.

"Let's make this quick," Shepard pulled her shotgun and dashed through the unlocked door, activating a larger door inside, revealing a huge garage space, littered with crates. It was an ideal ambush area, and sure enough her map lit up with enemy dots, which soon revealed themselves as enemies in front of them. Krogan mercenaries who forced them into cover.

"We don't have time for this," Garrus shouted over the rhythmic cracking of his sniper rifle.

"Cover me," Shepard replied, sprinting out before she had time to hear a response. She dashed under the exchange of fire and slid to position behind the nearest box. From there she was shielded from view as she made her way round to the krogan's defensive position.

Although she would deny it later, it was deeply satisfying to see the looks of surprise on the krogan's faces as she slid several grenades right under their feet. The mercenaries managed two steps, clattering right into each other anyway, before the grenades detonated and sent them spiralling out of cover. Always the pragmatist, Garrus tagged both of them once more to be sure.

"Let's get inside." Shepard instructed, leading them through the facility until they came to what might once have been an office area. One of the viewports had cracked and snow was flooding in. And there were geth everywhere. Shepard stayed in the doorway with her sniper rifle and took them out quickly before leading her team in. Something about the destruction unsettled her. It could have been the geth, but they weren't exactly renowned for wanton destruction, which suggested that something else had caused the chaos.

Her fear was confirmed when an inhuman screech rattled off the walls and some form of gigantic insect scuttled out of one of the office rooms. For all its screeching and flaring of tooth-lined mandibles it went down easily enough when Liara slammed a desk into it, dark green blood spewing from the stump that had been its head.

"I'm no anthropologist," Liara's voice shook with fear and exertion, "Maybe there are more records inside?"

Garrus nodded, "Good idea, now we just have to get inside."

There were several barriers, but not that many of the weird bug things they had seen. Tali had never been more helpful, cracking through every barrier they came across in seconds, allowing them almost complete access to the facility in a manner of minutes. They came out to the main intelligence hub, where the VI was housed.

With Tali helping it wasn't hard to get the VI going again, and the report was about what she had feared. They needed to go up to the roof and fix the landlines, then needed to reconnect the fuel lines down in the main reactor. And something told her that the geth would know about these two weak links.

The elevator up to the roof gave them time to change out some of the mods in their suits, amping the levels of their shields into the high-end of their limits. The charge in their suits would be enough to stop a short range missile, let alone claws or bullets. It was a smart move, the second the elevator opened they were swarmed by the bugs again, little green ones that exploded at their feet and the bigger ones whose claws scratched up the inside of the elevator easily.

Shepard found herself trapped underneath one of the big ones while Liara was carried away by another. Breathing hard and trying to ignore the claws making holes in her shields and pulled her shotgun out, pressing it hard up against the things neck and blasted a hole straight through it. She shoved the body aside and snatched Garrus' rifle from off his back, using it to blow apart the thing that had Liara by the ankle.

The heat sink popped full and she dropped the gun, pulling up her own pistol to check they had finished off the last of the bugs. She pulled Tali up and dashed over to Liara, who was pulling herself up shakily, "Are you okay?"

"A little battered but otherwise fine," The asari winced as she tried to put weight on an ankle that had been sliced open, "Maybe I am not so fine."

"Tali, Garrus, fix the generator." She activated some medigel and knelt down, "Let me fix you up," She told the young doctor, who put all her weight onto Shepard's shoulder.

"Thank you for this."

"You're part of my crew," Shepard replied, finishing applying the gel. It would stem the bleeding, keep the skin sealed, and even ease the pain of the wound. Wonderful stuff really, and it was usable on all species regardless of their systems. _And there's no way that you're reassuring yourself of how good this stuff is in an attempt to forget that Liara was nearly eaten just now. Nope, no way._

"Landlines fixed."

"Down to the reactor people, and keep it tight."

The reactor was swarming in geth, but at least they didn't charge the team down in suicidal assaults. Compared to the bugs they were easy to kill. Tali got to work on the reactor as the others covered her but there was no need, the geth were all defeated and the only thing left to do was get back up to the monorail.

During the short ride Shepard checked on Liara's ankle again, glad to see that it wasn't swollen, and even seemed to be healing. "I think you should be okay," She told the young scientist, who smiled at her.

The monorail opened out onto a datapad and a blood splattered hall. This confirmed it, there was no way the geth had caused this destruction. The wounds from bullets or even explosives wouldn't have left nearly as much blood as was covering everything. The scientists had been torn apart. Shepard and her team kept their rifles up all the way through the station and up the elevator. While in the elevator Shepard checked the datapad and found a disturbing message.

"Control group loose in the... they're in... can't escape," There were several seconds of incomprehensibly static and then the voice came back, more resigned to the inevitable now, "...the tunnels now. We're sorry, the leads couldn't get tom" More static, and finally ",grrrt out while you can."

The doors opened and they found themselves face to barrel with a dozen rifles.

The guns were quickly lowered and a man wearing rank insignia stepped forward, "Sorry. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."

"Can those things work a train's controls? That was all she needed, bugs breaking into the monorail.

"Hell if I know; I'm not assuming any goddamn thing, but you're human and that's enough that I won't shoot, I'd like to know who you are."

She nodded, it was reasonable, "My name's Shepard, I'm a SPECTRE."

"Huh, I won't look a heavily armed horse in the mouth. The aliens overran the hot-labs last week; only Han Olar got out and he ain't all there anymore." She winced, if she had only hurried she might have been there before the situation got out of hand. Then again, she might not have run into Benezia if she had hurried, "The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post." His tone turned sour, "We... had a lot more staff then."

She recognised the mood, and it wouldn't help, "You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect, you did a good job captain."

"Yeah? Sure as hell don't feel like it. The board sent an asari to clean up the mess, she went down to the hot labs yesterday and we haven't heard from her since." That was enough for her.

"I'm not gonna let any of your people die." She reassured the captain, hoping she could make good on the promise.

"All I can do is hold out here and protect the civilians, there's an emergency elevator out by the trams, this card will let you activate it and take you down to the hot labs." She nodded, hoping she wouldn't have to use it. Benezia would have asari commandos lined up on that door, ready to perforate anyone who came through it.

Instead she went through to the living area, quickly finding the doctor, who looked up in shock. He explained the situation to her and she immediately saw a way out. Reviewing what few schematics she could find for Peak 15 she had seen that the maintenance tunnels would let her get in to the lower levels almost unnoticed. The doctor could let her in, provided she synthesise a cure to the bioweapon they had been developing.

Once they were out of the medical bay Shepard turned to Liara, "Do you think you could do it?"

"It depends on how far along their own research was," The scientist was looking more intrigued than worried, "As long as they do not expect me to start from scratch then I see no reason I should not be able to synthesise a cure."

They headed back, convinced the guard to let them in, and got to work, Liara hunched over the desk and frowning as she flicked through computer screens too fast for Shepard to even begin absorbing the data within.

"I see, clever, they were trying to tie down the strands that links the dextros and the aminos," She muttered, typing some more commands, "But how would they account for muscle degeneracy in... ah, clever."

It didn't take nearly as long as Shepard had worried, still a half hour spent doing very little but watching Liara reading a computer, but it was clear that the scientists had benn pretty close to finalising their own cure when the attack hit.

"I've got it," She finally said, standing up with the antidote in hand, "It is hardly my most elegant work, and it will not be pretty when applied, but it will remove the virus."

"Well that's going to make my job a little harder."

The voice came from the doorway, and the whole squad spun to see an asari standing there, lit up in full biotic corona, Garrus put a few useless blasts into the shield and she tossed him into the wall with a shrug. "I was hoping to make this all look like a little accident, that the toxin got loose while you were working on the cure."

"Who the hell are you?" Shepard pulled up her shotgun and aimed for the commando's face.

"Nobody you should concern yourself with. I work for Lady Benezia, and that's all you need to know." The asari waved her hand and two geth stepped out from the cover of a crate, "Now, enough talk, let's see how you die."

She had barely finished the sentence before Liara waved a hand and a miniature black hole appeared in the centre of the room. The pull was incredible, and Shepard found she had to grab hold of the desk to keep herself from being pulled in with it. She linked arms with Liara and Tali and prayed that Garrus was awake enough to grab hold of something.

The crates, the geth and the asari were all pulled together as Liara's black hole tried to make them occupy the same space at the same time. Unfortunately anyone with the most basic understanding of science knows this is not possible. The results were messy to say the least. Geth bits flew everywhere, accompanied by asari bits.

The squad travelled in shell shocked silence back to the main lab, handing over the cure to the doctor, who stared at their dishevelled state. "What the hell happened?"

"One of Lady Benezia's commandos followed us in. You wouldn't know anything about it would you?"

The doctor shook his head furiously, "No, I don't know anything, I'm innocent in all this."

"And the bioweapon you have been developing is proof of that innocence?" Liara asked pointedly.

"Listen, just stop all this will you?" He handed over his access card, "This should get into any part of the facility you need to go to, just make all of this go away."

Shepard pocketed the chip, "It'll be my pleasure."

The maintenance tunnels weren't quite the warren she had expected, but they were cold. She used the mental exercise to try and keep her mind off the bitter chill seeping through her suit and into her bones. In such harsh conditions, it made sense to house the bulk of the facility in the centre of the mountain, where it was easier to keep heat, and have any maintenance access be spread around the outside, where no one would go anyway without proper gear.

Next to her Liara shuddered and dropped to one knee in the cold, Shepard pulled her up and helped her along to the door, which opened up to allow them access to a service elevator, and a room full of bugs. Her hands shaking too much to make aiming a sensible choice Shepard put down as many of the bugs as she could see, Garrus on her other side doing a much better job. Neither he nor Tali seemed to have been affected unduly by the cold.

"We need a moment," Shepard told the two, pulling Liara closer and activating the emergency override on the scientist's armour. In seconds the colour returned to Liara's face and she stopped clutching at her arms.

"Much better."

"Don't rely on it," Shepard shut down the override, "If you leave it on it'll cook you." Their weapons were still working fine, and with everyone about as good as they were going to get they needed to get down to the Hot Labs. Before they activated the elevator Shepard radioed the Normandy.

"Where's my B Squad Joker?"

"Making their way through Peak 15 now Commander. As far as I can tell they're boarding the monorail to the barracks."

"Tell them to head straight to the hot labs when they get there, don't bother going through the barracks," Shepard would have tried to radio the order herself, but she wasn't sure the suit radio would work from the middle of a mountain.

"Roger that Commander, over and out."

"Are you ready for this?" Shepard asked her team.

There was only grim determination on the alien faces, even Liara's. "Let us go now," She said, "Before my mother has a chance to wreak any more havoc."

Shepard slapped the elevator button and readied her rifle.

**AN:-** I have all the dialogue for the whole of Noveria pre-written out, so I'm just adapting the narrative around it now. I actually also have all of the dialogue for Shepard's next visit to the Citadel also written out. In effect I have the dialogue for the next three-four chapters, but none of the narration, so I just (in theory) have to add that narration.

Nothing more tonight because I've now been awake for nearly 40 hours and I'm tired. Hopefully more tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 13: Matriarch Benezia

**AN:-** We are approaching the end of Noveria. There's only one more chapter after this, to get us clear of Noveria and finish up the rachni subplot.

**Chapter Thirteen: Matriarch Benezia**

The elevator opened right into the main lab.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," Above them on a gantry, Matriarch Benezia was gazing at a gigantic insectoid creature, which skittered inside a cage far too small to contain it, "There is power in creation, to shape a life, turn it towards happiness or despair,."

Benezia turned, and Shepard realised for the first time why Matriarchs were so respected. The power in the woman's eyes was almost enough to make her surrender right there and then, "Her children were to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." The asari seemed to notice Liara, "I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation."

"Liara's here because she wants to be, not because I asked her to come."

"Indeed, what have you told her about me Liara?"

"What could I say mother?" Liara's voice was choked with tears, "That you're insane? Evil?" She drew a shuddering breath, "Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?""

"Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have."

Shepard tried one last time, "I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter."

"I now realise I should have been stricter with her," Benezia flared in an instant, and Shepard felt her muscles seize and become useless. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her other teammates similarly frozen. Doors opened and commandos poured in.

_Oh great,_ Shepard fought to break free and was surprised when she was able to wrench her arms free and draw a bead on one of her attackers. The shot went wild but forced the commando down, giving Garrus ample time to pick her off.

Next to her Liara's corona was brighter than it had ever been, shining at least as powerfully as her mother's had been, and she was tossing foes through the air like they were ragdolls, either killing them outright as they impacted walls at high velocity, or stringing them out for her teammates to pick off.

A blast of energy from Benezia threw Liara into a stack of crates, shattering them, and for a moment the commandos regained the upper hand, forcing the Normandy crew to retreat to cover. Just as it looked like the last of them had fallen the doors opened to admit another wave. _This could be a long fight,_ It all depended now on how many Benezia had brought with her.

Liara exploded out of the wreckage of crates and launched herself up onto the gantry, hurling bolts of energy at her mother. The entire upper walkway was electrified as the energy dissipated off the two fighters. Shepard nodded to her teammates, "Let Liara handle her mother, we just have to keep her clear."

Garrus and Tali nodded, reshouldering their weapons and selecting a commando each. Shepard did her best to keep her attention on her own battle instead of the one raging above her. a high pitched scream set her teeth on edge and she looked up to see Benezia forming a miniature black hole in the space between the two asari, but Liara had already countered, and the two singularities exploded, sending both combatants flying into the walls and collapsing a sizable chunk of walkway.

Garrus took advantage of the distraction to clean off the last of the commandos while Shepard rushed to Liara. The young asari was on the brink of unconsciousness but Benezia was already pulling herself up. Her corona looked weak though, and was blinking on and off.

"This is not over, Saren's will is stable, my mind is filled with his light, everything is clear."

Shepard stepped between the Matriarch and her daughter, "The rachni didn't cooperate with you, why should I?"

"I will not betray him you will, you..." Her shoulder slumped, her head dropped forward and her arms fell, the biotic corona disappearing entirely. "You must listen," Her voice had changed, closer to Liara's uncertain tones than the commanding Matriarch it had been, "Saren still whispers in my mind; I can fight his compulsions briefly, but the indoctrination is strong."

Shepard wasn't exactly trusting, "Why are you able to break free of his control now?"

"I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination, saving it for a moment when I could help destroy him. It will not last long."

Shepard needed Liara conscious, to tell her if it was even possible. "So you could turn on me again?"

"Yes, but it would not be my will Shepard." The Matriarch braced herself on a railing and tried to explain, "People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolise him, worship him; you would do anything for him, the key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnaught of incredible size, and its power is extraordinary."

"Sovereign's not like other ships. Where did it come from?"

"I cannot say. The geth did not build it." That revelation alone was enough to send shivers down her spine, "Its technology is far more advanced than that of any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you." Shepard didn't think the Matriarch was helping her case, the way she was going on about her boss right now.

"It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist; instead I became a willing tool, eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Miu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

That was pushing it, even for a mission that had involved a race of genocidal sentient machines, "How does something that big go missing?"

"Four thousand years ago a star nearby went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system but did not damage it; its precise vector and speed are impossible to determine. As millennia passed the nebula created by the nova enveloped the relay." A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, "It is difficult to find any cold object in interstellar space, particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation."

_This is a fascinating history lesson but it doesn't explain her presence here, _"Someone on Noveria found it?"

"Two thousand years ago the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy they discovered the relay the rachni can share memories across generatiohs queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers, I took the location of the relay from the queens mind I was not gentle."

Shepard had not heard the name _rachni_ in a long time. It was one of the oldest stories told about the Citadel, the entire reason they had come down so harshly on humans for foolishly opening the relay, or so they thought. Finding a race of killer insects was enough to make anyone a little skittish, "You can still make it right," She would have time to focus on the looming threat of interstellar cockroaches when she had the data Saren needed safe, "Give me the information."

"I was not myself, but I should have been stronger," Shepard couldn't repress another shudder, it wasn't just that Benezia had been trying to kill them a few minutes ago. She sounded like a broken record, repeating the same insistence of her innocence. She might still hold herself proudly but her mind had been broken for a long time. "I transcribed the data to an OSD, take it, please."

Liara had woken up, and was being carried by Garrus, "Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough. Do you know where he planned to go from there?" her tone was almost devoid of emotion.

"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived." She turned a pleading eye to Shepard, "You have to stop me, I can... I can't... his teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine. You... you should ah!" The Matriarch backed away, clutching at her head, "You, you should..."

Liara pushed away from Garrus, "Mother I... don't leave! Fight him!" Shepard was torn between her need to get Liara out of the way and the soldier's instinct to put a bullet into this clearly dangerous foe.

There was one last moment of clarity as Benezia looked up and met her daughter's eyes, tears sparkling, "You always made me proud Liara." She flund her head back and biotic flares erupted from her body, steaming the tears away as she looked back down and raised her arm, "Die."

Two blasts sent Garrus and Tali spinning over the railings to crash on the decking below. Shepard leapt to the side and tackled Liara, feeling her hairs stand on end as a biotic blast crushed over her neck close enough to send a shock running through her back. She felt Liara's hand on her belt and heard the scrape of a pistol unfolding. There was a single shot and the two of them slammed down hard on the floor.

Shepard rolled, pulling Liara with her, until they were out of the direct line of fire, but there was no need. Benezia had fallen back, clutching high at her chest. The biotic field flared off and she fell against a bulkhead. Shepard pushed herself to her feet and staggered over, uncertain whether she was going to offer comfort or a merciful bullet.

"I cannot go on." There was resignation in the elder asari's voice now, "You will have to stop him, Shepard."

Even with a foe dying in front of her, Shepard couldn't resist her instincts, "Hold on. We've got medigel, maybe we can..."

"No. He is still in my mind. I am not entirely myself. I never will be again." Still in that quiet, calm voice, she smiled as Liara managed to limp over to Shepard as well.

"Mother..."

"Goodnight Little Wing, I will see you again with the dawn." She dropped to the floor, "No light. They always said there would be a..." With a last breath the Matriarch slid to one side and died. Next to Shepard, Liara fell to her knees, finally breaking down and sobbing into her hands.

"Liara?"

She tried to lay her hand on the asari's shoulder but was pushed off as Liara crawled away from her, closer to her mother. Shepard gritted her teeth and withdrew the hand. Some things were better left. Garrus and Tali were both up and at least partially mobile, though the quarian needed to stop at the top of the ramp and start applying seals to her suit.

Shepard left Liara where she was and went to look at the rachni. Benezia had mentioned 'Her' children, so presumably this was a queen. Maybe even the last queen. There was something terrifying about the thought of that. The sole survivor of a great extinction buried in a cage beneath a mountain.

That was when an asari commando staggered past her and up to the glass, turning to stare at Shepard with glassy eyes. "This one serves as our voice," While the asari's lips moved, the voice wasn't coming from there, it seemed to be in Shepard's head as much as it was in the room, "We cannot sing not in these low spaces your musics are colourless."

"Musics? What?" Shepard realised she had her pistol out and trained on the supposedly dead commando.

"Your way of communicating is strange, flat. It does not colour the air. When we speak, one moves all." Shepard realised what was happening, the strange syntax, the seemingly dead asari, the rachni behind her. "We are the mother, we sing for those left behind; the children you thought silenced. We are rachni."

"How are you speaking through her?"

The rachni moved in its cage, possibly pleased that Shepard had worked out what was going on so quickly. "Our kind sing through touching of thought, we pluck the strings and the others understand. She is weak to urging, she has colours we have no names for," There was a weird sigh which emanated through the tank walls, sounding for all the world like a brass instrument being tuned.

"But she is ending, her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful," The hair on the back of Shepard's neck stood on end. Something that found death beautiful was dangerous. "The children we birthed were stolen from us before they could learn to sing. They are lost to silence. End their suffering, they cannot be saved, they will only cause harm as they are." It was almost like the rachni was trying to form a rhythm behind the words, pausing in the wrong places, but it wasn't quite coming through.

"I don't understand. Why are your children killing people?"

"These needlemen, they stole our eggs from us, they sought to turn our children into beasts of war." There was definite anger, even in the asari's voice, "Claws with no songs of their own. Our elders are comfortable with silence, children know only silence if no one sings to them. Fear has shattered their minds." Definitely anger, but also sadness behind it. Shepard reassessed again what her opinion of this creature was. Even through the medium of a dead commando there was sadness for the lost children.

"I understand," Garrus still had his rifle out and aimed at the asari, "A child left alone in a closet until she's sixteen would hardly be called sane."

"If you're sure they can't be saved?" Shepard didn't want to be party to the killing of hundreds of innocent beings. You didn't hate animals for being animals. Of course, if the queen was asking her to euthanise the beings instead, it would be even harder to figure out how she felt.

"It is lamentable, but necessary. Do what you must." There was a long pause, "Before you deal with our children, we stand before you. What will you sing? Will you release us, are we to fade away once more?"

Tali gestured to the controls, "Look, those tanks, acid, strong enough to kill anything, no matter its biology. They wouldn't have installed that if they weren't afraid of the consequences of her getting loose." Of course Tali would be the one to suggest killing it; her people had attempted the same thing nearly three hundred years earlier.

Liara was the voice of reason, "They made a mistake they let the krogan go too far. This is a chance to atone. She has done nothing to us."

"Garrus?"

"I don't know Shepard. This thing is part of a race that nearly destroyed us hundreds of years ago, but on the other hand, I don't want to be involved in killing off the last of a race."

"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory."

Despite the arguments of her squad, Shepard needed to hear something from the alien itsel, "If I let you live, would you attack other races again?"

"No! We, I do not know what happened in the war," Within the cage the rachni queen compacted its body together, almost like it was trying to control itself, "We only heard discordance, songs the colour of oily shadows." It was starting to get the hang of poetic language in English, or asari, Shepard realised she didn't even know if the translator was needed. "We would seek a hidden place, to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return."

"Are you a survivor from the war? A clone?"

"We do not know. We were only an egg, hearing mother cry in our dreams. A tone from space hushed one voice after another; it forced the singers to resonate with its own sour yellow note." Shepard felt a shiver run over her skin; something about the queen's tale made her feel there was more to it. "Then we awoke in this place, the last echo of those who came out from the singing, planet." The rachni turned away from the glass and the asari's body slumped a little further, "The sky is silent."

Shepard folded her arms and rested her hand gently on the bridge of her nose, this was impossible. She couldn't condemn an entire species to death; she didn't want to be put into a position that should be reserved for gods and natural disasters. But she couldn't let them go free, could she? Nearly two thousand years ago the rachni had come close to destroying everything in Citadel space before it even got started.

There was no way she could be expected to make this decision, this needed months from the Council, committees and politicians discussing all the possible outcomes of a situation.

Of course, there was no need for her to really think it, she had already made her decision, she just needed to admit it to herself, "I won't destroy your entire race. You go free."

"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."

Shepard stepped up to the control panel, navigating the display with ease; she found the final screen within seconds. _Open Tank/Vent Acid_ were her options. She breathed deeply, cracked her knuckles and pushed the _Open Tank_ option. Next to her the asari dropped as the tank rose up and twisted to face a tunnel in the wall. She watched the rachni carefully as it twisted back to her and opened its mandibles.

Instead of the screech she had expected to hear she heard a deep musical lilting, and for a brief second she knew everything was going to be alright. It wasn't something she could explain, but she even heard Liara's sobs start to clear, and Garrus lowered his rifle. Then the rachni turned and scurried away, leaving them in silence again.

**AN:-** NOVERIA. TAKES. FOREVER!

Phew, it's almost over. I'm not too happy about this chapter really. I think I focused far too much on the dialogue that Bioware had already helpfully supplied for me, which I was trying to get out of. I did enjoy the opportunity to let Liara do something awesome as well. The general idea for my story was that all of the characters who we see in the second game need to work their way up to their levels of awesome. Garrus, Tali and Liara need to shine a little before they become the paragons of awesome we see in ME2.


	15. Chapter 14: Finishing the Job

**AN:-** Finally. We're nearly off Noveria. I might even get a chance for characterisation now.

**Chapter Fourteen: Finishing the Job**

Shepard pulled herself together and went over to Liara, "We need to go, are you okay?"

The asari looked up at her, "I don't know Shepard."

"Are you going to come with us?"

After taking a long moment to look at her mother's body Liara finally nodded, "I am still with you Shepard."

"Then come on, we need to move."

She helped Liara up and turned to her other teammates. "Are you good to go?"

Garrus nodded, but she could clearly see a shard of metal poking through his abdomen, and he was dripping blood. Tali nodded as well, but she was breathing heavily and her armour had been breached. None of her squad was in any shape to go anywhere. "Hole up by the door, I need to radio ahead."

They obeyed, and Shepard sent a quick call through to the Normandy. "The crew's coming back Joker, tell the second squad to carry on to the Hot Labs, I'll meet them there."

"Yes ma'am."

She went to the door, "You're heading back to the Normandy, I'm finishing this mission with the second squad."

"I'm good to go Shepard," Garrus protested.

She stared at him, then rapped her gun against the shrapnel in his guts. He winced and bent nearly double, "You're heading back to the Normandy if I have to get Tali and Liara to drag you there unconscious."

"Yes ma'am," He managed to gasp.

Liara started, "Shepard, I..."

"We'll discuss it on the Normandy," Shepard cut her off, "For now, hurry, and don't stop for anyone." At the very least, Tali nodded; for all that she was swaying where she stood. "Everyone watch out for each other up there, no need for more injuries."

"Yes ma'am."

The team stepped back into the elevator, leaving Shepard to cross to the other side of the maintenance area and take a second elevator to the Hot Labs.

She found her team securing the labs, an injured scientist sitting on a chair with Williams watching over him. He had his leg stretched out before him and a makeshift bandage in place. The second Kaidan saw her, his eyes bugged out of his skull. "Jesus Shepard what happened to you?"

"Excuse me?" She glanced down at herself and saw blood covering her suit, as well as acid burns and scratch marks from the rachni. "Had a little trouble on the way down, we bumped into Benezia and a squad of heavily armed commandos. That and the rachni are back."

"Are you here to secure the situation?" The scientist asked.

She stepped over and gestured to the leg, "How are you holding up?"

"You must listen to me." He brushed aside the question, "If we do not contain our mistake, they will drop bombs from the battle-station, you understand?"

_Just what I needed, more complications, _"You let these things out?"

"I am only following the orders. Binary Helix found an egg; it was on a derelict ship, thousands of years drifting." _This sounds like a sci-fi movie,_ "This was rachni ship, inside they find many eggs in cryogenic suspension."

"A thousand year old egg hatched?" The rachni queen had spoken about being an egg, but a thousand years in cryogenic suspension was beyond even what Shepard had believed. She realised that it was the only possible explanation. If the rachni had been declared extinct two thousand years ago it must have been sitting around that long.

_I must be exhausted,_ She realised, _Making mistakes like that._

"Yes, very tough to be so long frozen. That it survived the centuries, this is miraculous. Binary Helix plan to clone rachni, mass produce them, create an army. But when they get here they find this egg is not a common rachni; it is a queen. After she lays eggs they move her to Rift Station; they are thinking that without her they can raise the babies to be obedient."

_And we saw how well that turned out, hang on_, "Don't you need a male to get eggs?" She asked.

"Queens are born carrying the genetic code of their fathers," _I'll have to ask Liara if that's even vaguely true,_ "Eggs are carried away from the colony to hatch alone. Queens can lay eggs in hours and have a colony in days; this is how they spread so quickly."

_And allows them some distinct battlefield advantages, _"Separating them from their mother didn't work." It wasn't a question.

"Da, this was exactly the wrong thing to do. I am thinking that without a Queen, rachni do not develop properly, her mind shaping theirs. These rachni are uncontrollable." He shook his head, "It is a sad thing, but they must be euthanized. I am thinking that the neutron purge must be set off."

_That doesn't sound friendly, _"I'm not familiar with the purge system."

"It creates a burst of neutron radiation that kills everything within the station. Things beyond get genetic damage of varying degree."

_Which means that even if we get out of the labs, we're going to suffer some damage. I suppose you have to take what you can get sometimes. _"Once the purge is armed we'll have to fight our way out," She said it loudly, so her team would hear, "Give us a minute to patch up and rearm."

Wrex tramped over to her, "Shepard, we should keep some by the door, in case some of the bugs get uppity and decide to attack."

"Good idea Wrex, Williams and I will set off the purge, you and Kaidan stay by the door and keep our exit clear." She turned back to the scientist, "How do we set off the purge?"

"Arming controls are nearby," He gestured to the room Wrex had been securing, "All you do is insert the key, then I will give Mira destruct..." A claw erupted through his back, showering Shepard in even more blood. The rachni had appeared from nowhere, and now it waved the scientist around like a gory trophy.

Wrex put it down in a single shotgun blast. "I hear more."

"Williams form up; you two keep a path open between us and the elevator." She hurried off, the Gunnery Chief at her back, and they opened up the door to the purge controls just as the hatches in the lab exploded open.

Shepard marched to the terminal and activated it, the glowing form of the VI springing to life, "Connecting. I have full access to the facility and am at your disposal."

"Activate the neutron purge."

"I'm sorry but I can't do that without proper code authorisation."

Williams held up a readout on her omni-tool, "Code input 875-020-079 code omega local execution."

The VI processed for a moment, "Verified. Code omega execution in 120 seconds."

_Oh brilliant. _"Haul ass chief," She yelled, swinging her shotgun to bear and slapping a hand onto the door controls. In the labs, Wrex and Kaidan were being forced back to the elevator by a flood of rachni, but they still noticed when Shepard and Williams started barrelling towards them. The two flared biotic blue and let loose with a biotic kick that squashed half the rachni instantly. The others were flung into the walls, leaving Williams and Shepard time to leap onto the elevator.

"One hundred seconds," Shepard gasped, suddenly feeling a dull pain in her stomach, "I hope this thing's got some speed to it."

They were out of the elevator and heading for the monorail when the entire facility rumbled under their feet. A weird light headedness washed over Shepard and she stumbled on her feet. Kaidan threw up next to her and Williams seemed to have a sudden headache. Only Wrex appeared unaffected.

"I guess the purge went off," Williams said, a little unnecessarily.

Shepard radioed the Normandy, "The team get back alright?" She asked,

"All down with Chakwas as we speak, and apparently you're injured Commander, your suit's telemetry has been flaring like mad for the last few minutes. Doctor's orders are that you cease strenuous activity immediately."

Chakwas was perhaps the one person on the ship who would have authority to override the captain, dependent on circumstances, and despite being a SPECTRE Shepard still felt an automatic function kick in. "Got it, no more activity from me. Williams can drive us home."

Truth be told, she was glad of it, and as she collapsed onto one of the seats in the monorail Shepard was happy she didn't have to traverse the bloody glacier again.

It took nearly a day before they were gathered in the briefing room again. Tali was only allowed out for a short period as a suit breach during the fight with Benezia had led to her picking up a heavy infection, which had also put her in a foul mood. Garrus had yards of surgical tape and bandages wrapped round his stomach where it had been punched through, and Liara was making her way around on crutches.

Shepard had garnered an impressive list of injuries herself, most of which she didn't remember getting. Her left hand had been broken quite comprehensively at some point, and was now in a full cast, she had been shot in her lower abdomen and grazed on her right arm, which meant the arm was in a sling and she had a length of bandage around her stomach, her back had suffered a nasty acid burn up near the shoulder and one of the rachni had managed to slice through her armour and cut deeply into other leg, meaning she was limping heavily as well.

Wiliams was the first to speak as they all gathered, "What's our next move, Commander? Head for the Miu relay?"

Shepard sat gingerly, shaking her head, "The Miu relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren's going, we'd just be wasting our time."

Across from her Liara nodded, "The Commander's right, we cannot rush off blind. We still need to learn more about Saren." Shepard hadn't had a chance to talk to Liara since the mission. She almost got the feeling the scientist was avoiding her. It was understandable, but it still hurt.

"Who put you in charge?" Williams said waspishly, "Did the Commander resign when I wasn't looking?"

Shepard didn't have time for another drawn out battle. She knew it had been a mistake to let Williams off the ship, "We're all on the same team here Williams. Liara's just trying to help."

"Sorry Commander." That surprised her. The apology even sounded genuine.

"Look," She tried to meet everyone's eyes, "This is a tough mission. We're all on edge. Everyone go get some rest, crew dismissed."

"Noveria report is away Commander," Joker had been waiting on the open line, "You want me to patch you through to the council?"

She had information now, something she could use. "Patch 'em through Joker." She struggled up and limped to where she could be seen easily.

The asari councillor opened, as she always did, "Is this report accurate commander? You found rachni on Noveria?"

"And then released the queen!" She didn't even bother looking at the turian as he ranted, "Do you have any idea what you've done? How many generation until they overrun the galaxy?"

"I won't be party to extinction," She said wearily, "And besides, this queen is different. She understands why her kind had to be wiped out last time around." She seemed to understand a little too well. If the rachni she had met was any indication, Shepard had to wonder why the species had gone to war against the council. Either the council had fired the first shots, or the rachni had been manipulated.

"I hope you're right Shepard, our children's children will pay the price if you're not." _Why not burden me with something else while you're at it? _She thought back at it.

Instead of voicing her annoyance she moved to the next item on her list, "Matriarch Benezia gave me coordinates for the Miu relay, I don't know why Saren wants it but that's what he's after, I requested..."

"We've seen the request," The salarian cut her off. "We won't send a battle-group to defend the spot, don't be absurd."

"We have, however," The asari councillor glanced at her colleague, "Diverted several patrols to the area, and the fleet is always on standby."

It would have to do; hopefully Saren would be at least partially dissuaded by council presence. "Thank you councillor, that should give me all the time I need."

"We'll be waiting for your next report commander." If she didn't know better she'd think the asari was starting to like her.

Where next Commander?" Joker asked as she cut the link.

"Set a course for the Citadel. We're no good as a fighting unit until everyone's healed and I think we could all do with a little down time."

"Yes ma'am."

"Oh, and ask Williams to report to me in fifteen minutes."

"Yes ma'am."

The Gunnery Chief who walked through her office door was much less certain than she had been even a week before. Shepard had been as good as her word, calling the Chief back every two days for a chat. Their conversations ranged over a variety of topics, Shepard never letting the topic getting pinned down. She had learned about Williams' close family, her sisters and mother, had learned that her father had died some years ago.

She had found out about some of Williams previous postings, and had even gotten into details of her training. As coincidence would have it she and Shepard had shared a drill instructor, Gunny Ellis. _It's a funny old galaxy._ But of course, they still hadn't gotten close to what Shepard needed to talk about. Williams was holding something back, something that wasn't in her files, but accounted for her deep hatred of the alien crew.

Even Pressly acknowledged their usefulness, and he was clear about his reasons for distrusting them. Williams was proving a tough nut to crack. In seven conversations, she hadn't once revealed what was really bothering her. Something in Williams' posture this time made her wonder though.

"Chief, is there anything you want to talk about?" She did this every time, and so far Williams had always just shaken her head.

Not this time, "I wanted to tell you something Commander."

Shepard leaned back in her chair and watched the young Chief, who slid nervously into the other seat and perched uncomfortably on the edge, "It's about my family, and it's kind of a black spot on my record."

"It's about your family, but it's a black spot on your record?"

"Yes ma'am, it's about the First Contact War."

_Ah ha. _Shepard's gut had been right, Williams was about to tell her.

"My grandfather was General Williams, in command of the Shanxi garrison during First Contact." Another puzzle piece fell in.

"General Williams surrendered to the turians." She kept her tone carefully neutral, but Williams turned angry anyway.

"He had no choice, the turians were threatening to carpet bomb the garrison. He couldn't get anyone out, he couldn't get supplies in, what was he supposed to do?" It wasn't rhetorical. The Chief was actually expecting her to tell her how her grandfather could have redeemed his name.

"He was supposed to surrender." She said, leaning forward and forcing Williams to meet her eyes. "Listen to me, because this is important. There is nothing glorious about dying for nothing, and there's even less to gain from sacrificing people for nothing."

"That's not how everyone else sees it."

"And why should I care about other people? I won't ask you not to care, but if it's worth anything to you, I would have done exactly the same thing your grandfather did. I would surrender if it meant saving just the lives of the people on this ship, and that's a lot less than were in the garrison."

"Really?"

"Do you think I would sacrifice any of this crew, just to prove a point to Saren?"

"No ma'am, if we were sacrificed, it would be to make sure the bastard went down."

"Exactly. Your grandfather couldn't have won, so what would his refusal to surrender have done?" Williams just stared back, and suddenly Shepard realised the real reason for her anger. She wasn't angry at people for blaming her family, she blamed her grandfather for having surrendered. "If General Williams had fought to the death all it would have proven was that he was willing to lose a garrison for no better reason than sheer bloody-minded stubbornness."

"I suppose..."

"There's no 'suppose' about it," Shepard asserted, not willing to let Williams hide behind the public opinion again, "Your grandfather did the right thing, and to hell with anyone who says differently."

They sat in silence for a long time, Williams avoiding her eyes, and eventually the Chief spoke, "I didn't expect to see the injuries."

"What?"

"The crew on Noveria, they were all aliens, and they were all injured really badly."

"They fought hard."

"And Liara, she killed her mother, instead of joining her."

"Yes." She wasn't going down that conversational road until she had spoken to Liara.

"I think, I might have been wrong."

"Chief?"

Williams finally met her eyes, "The alien crew did more than I would have expected. I, may have misjudged them."

Shepard steepled her fingers and stared at the Chief. Their eyes locked for a long time, and Shepard saw nothing deceptive in them. Eventually she dropped her arms and sat forwards, resting her hands on the desk-top instead. "I don't think you need to come back in two days," She said, "Dinner is at 1800 hours, it would be good to have the whole crew there, don't you think?"

She stood, nodding and saluting. "Dismissed chief."

Ashley left her to her paperwork.

**AN:-** Ashley is not completely over it. She acknowledges that the alien crew can be useful to them, and she knows that they are willing to give the same as the humans. That doesn't yet mean that she likes them.

Feros, Virmire. Blimey, we're nearly there aren't we?

Anyway, I've quite deliberately left myself a bit of time here. Even though they have very advanced medicine, there are still things that take a while to heal (at least in my opinion), and multiple fractures are one of those things. Basically I want to cover some of the Citadel related sub-plots for character reasons, and I need to give Liara and Shepard some time together. Also, the next few chapters will also take some time out to focus on other characters, without the Shepard perspective.


	16. Chapter 15: Down Time

**Chapter Fifteen: Down Time**

Shepard led her whole crew off the Normandy and into the confines of the elevator. The Citadel was as she remembered it, and she still got a feeling of unease walking around it. It was nothing she could put her finger on, but somewhere between the keepers and the distant nature of the populace she had a hard time feeling comfortable there.

"Remember people, we're here to have at least two days of downtime before moving out, so don't get in trouble." She focused on Wrex, "No taking mercenary jobs, no matter how trivial." He growled at her, but dipped his head in a nod anyway. "Anyone who wants to stay on the ship, feel free, but take advantage of this time, we might not be getting another break for a while."

They stepped off the elevator and out into C-Sec. "Liara, I'd like you to come with me." The asari nodded, "Everyone else, go have fun."

The crew dispersed, most of them heading for the wards lower levels. Shepard smiled wearily at Liara, "Come on, we're going upside."

The trip back had taken a few days, which had been enough for Liara to get off her crutches, but Shepard was still banged up.

"I know what you want to talk about Shepard." Liara said when they were in the elevator. "I just do not just know if I want to talk about it."

"I want to go shopping with you," Shepard said innocently, "And we never got a chance to finish out conversation from before Noveria."

"Oh, yes." Liara blushed again, "I hadn't even thought about that."

"I can hardly blame you." They stepped out of the elevator onto the brightly light Presidium. "Now do you need anything?"

"Excuse me?"

"This is a shopping trip, yes? I've managed to put together quite a bit of cash the last few weeks, and I feel like spending it."

"Cash?"

"Old Earth term for money, back when we had paper money."

"Well if you are certain..."

"I am."

"I could use a new biotic amp..."

"Another round!" Garrus roared cheerfully, bringing the tray of drinks over.

"Bring it turian," Williams snatched her drink off the tray before it was even set down, raising it in challenge to Garrus. The crew were onto their sixth round now, and things were beginning to get heated.

Tali slipped the straw apparatus into her mask, "Three, two, one," She counted down.

Two seconds later Ashley swiped a hand across her face, "Count it." She demanded, slamming her glass onto the table.

Tali responded by cracking her own drink down next to her, "Six," She said.

"I told you already," Kaidan put his down next, "You don't actually count them Tali."

Garrus' drink joined the pile, "No, no, I like her way."

Wrex growled and stood, "Another round," He rumbled deep in his throat.

"Another round!" Ashley agreed loudly.

"How about we make it interesting?" Garrus leaned forward.

"You're on turian."

"I happen to know the bartender here, and I know for a fact he's got batarian ale behind that bar, how about we take this to the next level?"

"Batarian ale it is."

Wrex grunted and stomped over to the bar, returning with the drinks, and Tali's special. The crew clinked glasses together and downed the shots.

"Oh man," Kaidan flared blue for a second and his chair lifted into the air, then he crashed back onto the floor.

"I think the LTs out of it," Ashley snickered as she thumped her glass down, "You still standing turian?"

Garrus was hunched over the table, but as soon as Ashley was done he straightened, sighed happily, and added his glass to the pile, "Never better human."

Wrex dropped his drink into the pile without a word, followed by Tali, who missed the edge of the table and giggled as her glass dropped to the floor, "My turn?"

"Another ante," Wrex grunted, and the others turned to stare at him, "Krogan liquor. You take that, we can start drinking seriously."

Garrus' eyes widened and his fringe plates shifted on his forehead, but Ashley just thumped the table, "All right krogan, I can take it."

Wrex's lips curled up in a predatory smile, "Alright then."

Joker was running through some checks on the Normandy when he heard the airlock cycle behind him and someone crashed into a bulkhead, "Gunnery Chief Williams is aboard," The AI told him.

There was another clatter and he twisted the chair to see a very drunk Ashley Williams slam into the outside of the cockpit. "Good day?" It has been nearly three hours since the Normandy crew had left the ship. Joker hadn't had much choice about staying behind. Not that he had much say in the matter anyway. He never did.

"Groovy," She said as she clattered up next to him.

"You seem a lot more cheerful recently." Sharing a bridge for missions she was off duty for had given him a chance to get to know her, or at least, to see how much she was chafing at the bit under Shepard's orders.

"I am more cheerful, cheerfuller? Is that right?"

"No, but I'm not judging." Sometimes it was funny to be the only sober person in the room, but when the drunk was a beautiful and exquisitely toned woman, it was more than a little uncomfortable.

"You don't judge do you, not like some people." It wasn't accurate to say she walked closer to him, more like she crawled along the computer panels to get closer. He tried to push himself away, but it was hard while confined to a chair. She put a hand on his shoulder, "That's why you're a good guy."

"You think so? I think I'm more of a background character, an NPC, not someone you need to focus on, or should!" He was getting a little panicky as her second hand found his chest.

"But you listened when I was moaning, and I never said thank you." She leaned in closer, and he found his resolve crumbling. "Don't you want me to say thank you?"

This was not exactly a common occurrence for Joker, but still, he had standards, "I do, so much, but maybe you could say thank you with a dinner date?" She chuckled and slipped forward so she was sitting on the arm of his flight chair, "A night out on Arcturus Prime?" She cupped his face in his hands and he couldn't bring himself to push her away, "A series of increasingly dirty e-messages?"

She grinned, and just as she was coming in and his eyelids fluttered closed she slumped heavily onto his chest, driving the breath out of him. Thankfully she hadn't dropped far enough to break anything, but it wasn't exactly comfortable having a seventy kilo deadweight on his chest.

_I should get a medal for holding out as long as I did;_ He thought sourly as he struggled to get some leverage on the chief that didn't involve his arms shattering. His legs might be the real weak point of his bone structure, but he wasn't going to be taking any chances with his arms either.

It wasn't that Shepard didn't want Liara to talk about her feelings about Benezia, but on the other hand, a little retail therapy never did anyone any harm, and Liara seemed to be in dire need of some fun anyway. Most of their shopping wasn't exactly for military regulation gear, and after two hours Shepard had to admit that clothes shopping could be fun, depending on your company.

And Liara looked beyond beautiful in a long silver dress. Which hugged her body in all the right ways. _Dirty Shepard._

Her comm. unit beeped and when she glanced at the address she frowned. For some reason C-Sec was contacting her. "Hold on Liara," She said, "I have to take this." They were outside the Hanharr Emporium, which Shepard had seen while they were running around trying to find Tali last time they had been on the Citadel.

_Commander Shepard,_ The message read, _We have a situation you might be able to help with. A young girl, just rescued from Batarian slavers. She was on Mindoir._ Shepard took a sharp breath in. _She's stolen a pistol and is hiding in the docking bay. She says she wants to kill herself._

"We have to go," She told Liara, already marching back to C-Sec. "There's a girl in the docking bay, she was on Mindoir when the slavers hit. She says she wants to kill herself."

Shepard tried to keep her breathing steady as they rode the elevator back up to the docking bay. Another survivor of Mindoir. It wasn't something she had ever wanted to go back to, but the Lieutenant was right, she had a connection, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

She stepped up to the C-Sec officer, and waited until he had saluted. "Is she back there?" The only obvious cover was some crates.

"Yes, behind those containers, I have a sniper in position, but I don't think we'll need it." While he could have just been doing his job, something in his voice suggested something more.

"You seem very concerned about her."

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "I'm just doing my job commander."

She accepted the sedative he offered and told Liara to stay behind; this would need to be done delicately. She hadn't been armed, and she hoped it wouldn't be necessary to do anything more than talk to her.

The girl was backed right up against the railings, a two hundred foot drop beneath her. "Stop!" She yelled when Shepard came into view, pulling up a pistol that was almost too heavy for her. "Stop, what are... what are you?"

"My name is Shepard," She kept her voice low and calm, like trying to talk down a startled horse. _The last time I was even near horses was back on Mindoir, _she realised, "Lieutenant Girard sent me to talk to you. What's your name?"

"Animals don't get names," The girl's voice was too high. She was putting it on, deliberately trying to sound younger, "The masters put their symbols on her, hot metal all over her back, she screams when they do it."

"You're not an animal. Your parents, what did they call you? Do you remember them?"

"She remembers a lot of things. Talitha, they call her that. She, she doesn't remember the rest. Leave her alone."

"What's the last thing you remember from Mindoir?" Unbidden, her own memory of Mindoir rose to the surface, roiling clouds of black smoke and the taste of gunmetal and meat as she saw the blackened remains of her own family in the brief moment as the marines loaded her onto the drop ship. Before that there was only screaming and the reports of weapons.

"Fire. Smells of smoke and burning meat, animals screaming as they masters caged them. As they put the metal to their backs, put the wires in their brains. She pretends to be dead," Shepard's own breathing was speeding up; she had lain still while the colony was butchered. _There but for the grace of God_. "If she's dead she can't work but they know, she hopes they'll leave. But they put her in the pen."

Shepard couldn't even ask, "She didn't fight, she was already broken when they put the wires in."

She guessed Talitha was about nineteen, which would have made her six when she was taken. "No one blames you for staying quiet and hoping they would go away," _Now where have I heard that before?_ "The only person who blames you is you." _This won't work, it took me two years to even start listening to that argument._

"She wants to believe that. She wants to believe nothing would change. She doesn't want to be there anymore; in the pen, in the cages, lying quiet while they do things to her." Shepard took an involuntary step forward, managing to hold herself back when Talitha raised the gun again. It probably wasn't such a good idea to try and hold Talitha right now. She didn't want to ask what happened in the pit, and was ashamed at her own weakness.

"No she's no good; don't want to be handled again."

"How did you get here, did you escape?"

"She can't escape; they have chains, wires needles. You go too far they take your brain away," It was like heaving a list of all her own fears read back to her, everything she had tried to forget after her own escape. "Animals like her come, animals with guns, they make the masters explode, she tries to fix the masters, so they won't be mad at her, she puts all the reds and purples back in, but they don't move. The other animals take her."

_Didn't the marines have anyone there to help with the slaves? _"You were afraid. All you'd known for thirteen years was the masters' abuse, so you tried to heal them."

"She doesn't want to see other animals, they're not real, they can't be real. They can't see her. If the animals can see her, then this is real, but it can't be. The wires, the chains, the hitting, this doesn't happen to her. It's another girl, a dirty girl, stupid; she deserves it, dirty stupid girl. It happens to her doesn't it? They see her so it's real, she doesn't want it to be real."

It was all hitting too close to home for Shepard. "I was on Mindoir, my parents died in the raid."

"Lying!" She practically screamed it, and Shepard wondered if she'd pushed too hard, but the girl immediately broke down into sobs, "You get hit for lying, get the buzz or the burning, can't be there. Why are you alive? Why are you... why aren't you like her, broken, only fit to dig and carry?" She met Shepard's eyes for the first time, and the pain hidden there was a look Shepard knew too well.

"For a while I was broken," It hurt to admit it, but she felt tied to this girl, "I lost my whole family Talitha, my friends, my childhood." She took a breath and forced herself to remember how it had felt, the dull ache in the stomach that reminded you every day that nothing was quite right. "I had to pull myself up and keep going."

"You lose your mommy and daddy; but you don't dig, you don't carry. You stand up, she wishes she could stand up."

Shepard took another step, keeping her arms open wide, Talitha raised the pistol again, but it was half hearted now.

"What happened to your parents?"

"There's, she sees them. They're yelling, run, hide." Again Shepard forced herself to remember her own past, hearing her father shouting for her mother to get inside the shelter, for her to run and hide. "They hit the masters, but the masters, they have lights and hoses," Talitha completely broke down, sobbing into her hands, the gun dangling uselessly off one finger, "Daddy's... he's melting!" Shepard closed her eyes and tried to block out the image. Her own father had been shot with a normal rifle, but her mother and baby brother had been inside the shelter when the slavers torched it. "Sh, she doesn't want to see that, don't make her look; stupid, stupid."

"I know it hurts Talitha, I'm sorry." She put one foot forward and tried to will the girl to look at her, "You need to deal with this. What happened to them, think."

All the fight and anguish bled out of the girl, and when she looked up again her face was blank, "When she thinks, water comes out of her eyes. The masters beat her when she wastes water, so she doesn't think anymore. She sees them, mommy and daddy, burning in white light; melting, going to pieces, they can't even say anything to her."

A voice that seemed to come from Shepard's own past spoke, "They're dead Shepard, they tried to save her and the masters burned them." It was too lucid, Shepard stepped forward again, close enough to reach out and hold the girl, who now merely stood with her eyes dangling useless at her side.

"Please don't touch her, she's dirty, you'll catch it."

"Talitha," For some reason it felt important to say her name, "This will make you sleep. If you fall asleep, they'll take you to a place where you can get better."

The girl took it, but before she swallowed it she looked up again, "Will she have bad dreams?"

Shepard stepped forward and held her forearm, "You'll dream of a warm place, and when you wake up, you'll be in it."

"She'd like that," The faintest hint of a smile appeared on her face, and she swallowed the pill easily. "It hurts when she, when I remember, me." She held her arms up uncertainly, and Shepard pulled her into an embrace, "But she wants to remember."

Shepard held her until the sedative took hold, then supported her all the way down to the floor, laying her out softly and snagging a jacket which had been bundled next to one of the crates. When she had placed it under Talitha's head she took the pistol, trying to at least act professionally. She field stripped the gun and walked back to Girard, handing the gun to one of his subordinates.

"Is it over Commander?"

"She took the sedative; she wants to get better commander."

"Thanks Commander that means a lot, I didn't want to hurt her. It's just, when I see her curled into a ball and shivering..." When he spoke again there was anger in his voice, "She was only six when they took her, why the hell are we out here if we can't even keep one little girl safe?"

She had reached the limit of her compassion for the day, and stirring up bad memories wasn't doing anything for her temper, "Bad things happen to good people lieutenant, that's why you and I are here," She knew she sounded callous, but she wasn't just going to share her emotional state with some young buck C-Sec officer, "Don't wring your hands over her, help her."

"Yes ma'am," She could see in his eyes that he thought she was a hardass, and suddenly he was all business again, "Thanks for your help Commander, we are taking her to a counselling centre, they'll help her get better."

She nodded and then turned to Liara, who was watching with an expression that was a little too close to awe for Shepard's liking. "Back to the Normandy."

Liara just nodded, trailing along behind as Shepard led the way back to their docking bay.

**AN:-** Yes, I made an Ashley Williams Evil Dead 'Groovy' joke. Sometimes I hate myself.

The fourth wall came in for a _lot_ of abuse this chapter. Groovy, Joker calls himself an NPC, references to the somewhat shady methods of Shepard's fund acquisition.

I spent a long (and I do mean a long) time trying to decide on a colour of dress for Liara. Perhaps if I had any confidence as an artist I'd try and do some sort of representation of what it's supposed to look like, but I'll try and describe it (in a later chapter) instead.

A bit of outside crew interaction, and the next chapter is where Liara and Shepard can really have it out.


	17. Chapter 16: Digging Up the Past

**AN:-** Lots of work, no time for writing. Hope you enjoy this, I hope to get more done as soon as I can.

**Chapter Sixteen: Digging up the Past**

They stepped on board to see Joker struggling past them on his crutches.

"What's up?" Shepard asked.

The pilot jumped a little, "Nothing Commander. Williams just got back and uh, she wasn't in the best shape."

Shepard walked past him and stared at the unconscious Gunnery Chief. Somehow, Joker had managed to get her sitting in his chair, snoring softly and drooling onto her shoulder. "I take it the rest of my crew are of partying as well?"

"She didn't mention anything, but then she passed out pretty quickly after she came in."

"Passed out in your chair?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Were you in it?"

He coughed, "Yes, but nothing happened Commander, just a friendly chat between officers."

The eyebrow went higher, "No need to get defensive Joker, I was just worried she might have damaged you while drunk."

"Why would she do that?"

"I couldn't possibly speculate." Joker mentally kicked himself; he had really put his foot in it this time. Shepard smiled at him and went back onto the walkway.

"You kids have fun."

Joker tried to protest, but she was already gone. _Well that could have gone better._

Shepard and Liara went into the captain's quarters, where they could at least be assured of some privacy. They deposited their bags on Shepard's bed and sat at the small table in her room. "That could not have been easy." Liara started.

"No." Shepard frowned and massaged her temples, "It brought back some unpleasant memories." They were still there, lurking at the edge of her mind.

"Shepard, I have been inside your mind, I saw barriers there, strong walls in your mind."

"You read my mind?"

"No!" She held up her arms and shook her head furiously, "I wouldn't!" She breathed heavily, "What I mean is that I was inside your mind, it let me see how your mind is formed. You have placed blocks on yourself, to prevent yourself from facing whatever is there."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, "But I went through years of therapy, years of counselling, they said I was better."

"I did not say that you were not, uh, 'better.' But you have still tried to make yourself forget. You may have faced it in the past, but that was not enough."

"Liara, my whole family died when I was sixteen, how was I supposed to deal with that, especially that close to the time?"

"Then why did you not try to deal with it afterwards?" Liara cocked her head, "Surely when you realised that you might not have fully conquered your past you should have gone back, as an adult, to try again."

It made far too much sense for Shepard's liking. "I was always able to function, and as long as I could do that I was okay, then after Akuze, I was too busy trying to put myself together again."

"And is it possible that the memories of your childhood made it harder to deal with the later trauma?" Liara was resting her chin on her hand, and looked for all the world like a psychologist from the old Earth movies.

"Like I said, I just needed to stay functional, and I could. I went to the therapy, and I knew all the answers for them to certify me sane."

"You are not insane because you feel trauma over such terrible events." Liara now leaned back into the chair and folded her hands over her stomach, "It is perfectly natural to try to shut away such things, but it is also necessary to confront them."

Shepard smiled wanly, "Now you just sound like my old therapist."

"Is that so bad? I could be your therapist, I could help you to work your way through these issues."

"It's tempting Liara, but what about you? Your mother, that can't have been..."

"Easy? No. Necessary? Yes. I do not want to remember my mother as she was then, because that was not her. I wish things had been different, but you must remember that we asari look at things in the long term. My mother had nearly a thousand years of glory, and was liked, respected, everything a matriarch should be."

It was painfully obvious that Liara was just trying to distract her. "It's not that easy though, is it?"

Liara's lip shook, "Well what do you want me to say Shepard? I killed my mother. I pulled the trigger. There's nothing more to it."

"Do you really think we could have got through to her? I think your mother knew she was going to die, it was only a matter of..." She suddenly realised how bad it would be to finish the sentence.

"A matter of who pulled the trigger," Liara finished anyway. "And I suppose it's just inconvenient that it had to be me."

"No," Shepard rubbed her face and tried to explain, "But I do think that if anyone needed to, then it was better that it was you."

"Better?" Liara stood bolt upright, "Better that I was the one to kill my own mother?"

_Nice going, that made it much better. _"Liara, I'm sorry, that didn't come out right."

"No, it did not."

She twisted on her heel and stormed out. Leaving Shepard with her head flat on the desk, wondering quite when she had gotten so bad at being nice to people.

"Commander?"

"Yes Kaidan, of course you can come in," She mumbled into the table.

She heard him walk closer, "I'm sorry, the door was open. Do you mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," She forced herself to look up. "Is there something you wanted to talk about Lieutenant?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He smelled faintly of alcohol, but he wasn't drunk.

"I'm fine Kaidan, just putting my foot in my mouth."

"I saw, Liara took offence to something?"

"Oh no, I said something offensive, she just reacted normally."

He _hmmed_ in response, and she managed to piece together another mystery of the day. "So who else was with you at Chora's Den?"

"Williams, Garrus, Wrex and Tali."

"Tali?"

"When I left she was trying to match Wrex drink for drink. Garrus was unconscious and Williams had decided she was going to see what Joker was doing."

"Is Joker still having trouble in the cockpit?"

Kaidan smiled, "I don't think Joker has any troubles with his _cock_pit."

She frowned at him, "You know what I meant Kaidan."

"Alright, I gave him some help bringing Williams to a sleeping pod, that was when I saw Liara storming out."

"Very kind of you. And I am alright as well, so you can go get some rest yourself."

He stood, "If you're sure Shepard?"

She stood as well, making a show of yawning and stretching, "I'm about due for more painkillers and rest, this blasted stomach wound is making it hard to do much."

"If you say so ma'am, I'll see you tomorrow."

He left her, and this time she made sure her door had cycled shut and locked before she went to her desk. She kicked the chair she had been sitting in over and slumped onto her bed, pushing her hands up into her temples until it hurt. At least the pain gave her something else to focus on. She tried to tell herself that the blood on her hands was imagined and not real, and that she wasn't hearing screams.

She wasn't even sure who the screams were from anymore. It could have been so many people by now, her family, her squad, the colonists on Eden Prime, the rachni. She was growing accustomed to the background hum of death.

_Right. And that's completely normal. Hearing things and being used to death and destruction._ She sighed and fell backwards onto the bed, still massaging her forehead. _Maybe Liara's right, I think I need help._

She would talk with Chakwas in the morning, but for now she rolled over and tried to sleep.

The next morning brought the great joy of being sober when everyone else is deeply hungover. Shepard came out to the mess hall to find Ashley hunched over the main table, a cup of something hot in one hand and her other hand resting firmly on her temple.

"Good morning," Shepard said brightly, "Have fun last night?"

"I feel like two krogan have been pounding my head all night," She mumbled.

Shepard started preparing her own drink, which according to the flash-freeze packet was coffee. "If you're awake enough to make similes you can't be that bad."

The Chief managed a faint smile and took a sip of whatever was in the mug. She winced as she put it back down, "I need to speak to Joker, this boat needs some real drinks."

Shepard sat, catching the scent of Williams' drink, "Hot chocolate?"

"Hey, it works for me."

It took a lot of willpower not to wince at her own bitter drink, but Shepard managed it, setting the mug down gently and looking to the sleeping pods, "How're the others?"

"Dunno, I was gone before they even got back."

Apparently no one had told Williams that Shepard had seen her, "Really? Why did you come back so early?"

"Uh, personal matter ma'am."

"Ah, and it wouldn't have anything to do with Joker having been up and about when I got back?"

The look on her face was priceless, first brow-furrowed confusion, then her eyes widened in horror and her jaw went slack as she looked up, fully awake. "You came back?"

"Oh yeah, saw someone slumped in the pilot's chair."

"Commander, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise this mission."

"Relax Chief, I'm not writing you up for this." She played with her cup, trying to decide how to phrase the next part, "But I have some advice, if you'd like."

Ashley tensed, "Advice?"

"While this ship is currently under the command of a Council SPECTRE, you and Joker are still Alliance. You're not in the same command structure, or else I'd be giving you a whole other speech, but just be aware of the rules and regs. He does outrank you, and there have been incidents in the past with non-coms and officers."

She nodded, "I understand Commander, and I'll be careful."

"Good."

They drank in silence for a moment, Ashley still occasionally rubbing her temples. After a moment she looked up "What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"Shepard, I have three sisters, I can tell when someone's crushing."

Shepard fought to control the blush she could feel spreading up her neck, "I am not crushing Chief."

"Oh, so if I went into the med bay and kissed the asari, you'd be completely fine with that?"

"You're free to kiss whoever you want Chief."

"You might fool the other aliens, and you might have kept it from most of the crew, but Kaidan knows, and you are a terrible liar."

"Alright," Shepard couldn't smile about it, the memory of the night before still fresh, "Yes, I like her, but I don't think anything's going to happen."

"Why?" Ashley took a swig, "You aren't even in the same species, let alone command structure."

Shepard took an accompanying drink, "We had an argument last night, I kind of ruined things before they even got started."

"Two weeks that scientist has done nothing but moon over you and revere you like some kind of hero," Ashley leaned forwards, "Trust me, you'll work it out."

"You think?"

"I told you, I can tell when someone's crushing, apparently the asari crush the same way we do." She sat back, looking very smug, and took a victory sip.

Shepard was surprised to find she was smiling, "Thanks for the encouragement."

"Don't mention it, and speaking of crushing, you know Chalke?"

Shepard ran through the crew roster in her head, "Engineer, helps you with the armour?"

"That's her; she is falling hard for the LT."

It was so normal, Shepard couldn't help but laugh. _I should be worrying about a rogue SPECTRE and geth, but here I am. _"Okay, but you know Pressly?"

"I think I'm familiar."

"Crushing hard on Garrus."

Williams stared in shock for two seconds, then threw her head back and laughed, clutching her head, "Oh you bad, bad woman, I have a headache."

"Oh and Tali?" Ashley looked up, tears in her eyes from laughing, "Her and Chakwas have been spending a lot of time together lately."

It was the last straw, Ashley actually toppled of her chair, hands over her stomach and practically crying with laughter. Shepard grinned and walked round to help her up, "You're not the only one who can read people."

"Apparently."

They straightened up and grinned, "Just go gradual," Ashley said more seriously, "Liara's younger than she is."

"That shouldn't make sense, but I understand." She slugged the Chief lightly in the arm, "And you go gentle with Joker, he's as fragile as he is." That earned another smile as they picked up their drinks.

"Thanks for the talk skipper," Ashley mock-saluted, "_'His qualities were beauteous as his form/For maiden-tongued he was, and thereof free/Yet if men moved him, was he such a storm/As oft 'twixt May and April is to see'_."

"Poetry now?"

"I'm full of surprises."

"What's going on here?"

They turned to see Kaidan coming down the walkway, rubbing his head and looking from the toppled chair to the two women.

"Nothing Kaidan," Shepard assured him while Ashley burst out laughing again, "Just a little girl talk." She mock saluted to Ashley, and went back to her quarters.

It was nice to see the entire crew taking it easy, and as Shepard strolled through the empty Normandy she wished that it was a real shore leave. But her arm and hand were already close to healed, and they would have to head out within a day or two.

"Anything up this morning Joker?"

"Oh there was plenty up this morning Commander, but unfortunately just me on my own."

"Thanks for that information, it was crucial to my mission."

"You seem to like collecting the life stories of everyone you meet, I just wanted to part of the party." He flicked open his console, "As it happens there was something, the Council requests a chat."

"Just put them on the system here, I don't want to have to traipse all the way back to the comm. room."

He looked back, "Are you sure Commander? It could be confidential."

She lightly touched his shoulder, "Anything they're going to tell me, I'd share immediately anyway, this way at least I can cut out one more to debrief."

He nodded and toggled some switches, waited a moment until the connection finished, then nodded to her.

"Commander Shepard," It was the asari councillor, "We've received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren."

"I'll take all the help I can get." She eased herself into the seat next to Joker.

Oddly enough, it was the Salarian councillor who spoke next. "We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the traverse."

"You mean spies." That explained his interest in it; everyone knew the Salarian STG were the premier spies.

"SPECTREs tend to attract attention Shepard, but they are only one arm of the council; Special Task Groups are often a better option for monitoring developing situations." _Saren is hardly a developing situation, he's a full blown situation, in progress, right now._

"We currently have several infiltration units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel space. This particular unit was gathering intel on Saren."

"What did they find?"

"Unfortunately the message we received was little more than static, the infiltration team must in a position where they can't send a proper interstellar communications." That wasn't enough to pique her interest unduly. Sometimes a simple breakdown of equipment could be to blame; she wasn't rushing out to fix someone's radio.

"But the transmission was sent on a channel reserved for mission critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important. Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this; find out what happened to our team. The signal originated from the planet Virmire." Without checking, she knew that Joker was searching the nav data."

"I'll look into it." It certainly deserved attention, but she almost got the sense that they were trying to get her to do their dirty work, and just using Saren as a convenient excuse. The Salarian's tone wasn't exactly condescending, but it was getting there.

"The council prefers not to become involved in the specifics of SPECTRE activities." _Gee, you think maybe that's why one of your most trusted agents managed to go rogue right under your noses?_ "We only want you to be aware of all your options, including Virmire. Good luck commander, we will keep you advised of anything else."

When they had signed off Joker looked over to her, "Commander?"

"We can't go anywhere stressful until the doctor certifies us all fit to fight," She considered her options, "But then again we want to be off the Citadel when we're ready to go." Opening her omni-tool, she flicked through a couple of journal notes she had made. "We have a few days worth of extra travel stacked, just to keep everyone working as a team, and that should be enough to let us heal up."

"Yes ma'am, where first?"

"Gemini Sigma, Ming system, Hacket sent me the distress beacon while we were docking. Shouldn't be anything major, but since we're not good for much else."

"Yes ma'am laying in course."

**AN:-** I had so much fun writing Shepard and Ashley's interaction.

I think it bears mentioning that this mission is supposed to be over pretty quickly. Even factoring in lengthy flying time (which I'm trying to do) the whole thing is over in almost a month. According to the timeline of my story, Liara has been on board for about three weeks now, and her and Shepard have only really been showing interest in each other for a week. The tense emotional situation would make for lots of hormones, but even then I thought that Liara and Shepard needed a bit of time to work through their separate issues before they jump each other. (It should also be pointed out that it is entirely possible for Liara to kill her mother, but she reacts the same afterwards as she does if you didn't even take her on the mission.)

Next chapter, some of the random side quests get an airing, and we get a bit more crew interaction.

Some trivia: Garrus and Pressly. Go and read Pigblossom's excellent fanfic 'A Harmless Pasttime.' It is rated M for a little more than just suggestive imagery, but if you're old enough, it's very funny and where I got the idea for Shepard's little in-joke. Unfortunately Chakwas and Tali were my own invention. (Hey, at least the doctor knows how to properly sterilise an environment) The young engineer Chalke is just a random extra I inserted for the scene to work (her name is from Sarah Chalke, or Elliot Reid of Scrubs, which I was watching when I wrote this scene)

The poem Ashley recites is Shakespeare's 'A Lover's Complaint.' I know it seems a bit obvious, but I'm doing a Shakespeare course at university so I have to read this sort of thing constnalty now. Gemini Sigma, Ming is of course where you find the MSV Worthington.


	18. Chapter 17: Away Across the Universe

**AN:-** A nice long chapter to make up for not updating in a while. This is deliberately a heavy action chapter, to deal with two quests which I felt were some of the better ones. There's also quite a bit of Shepard angst, which won't be going on for much longer.

**Chapter Seventeen: Away Across the Universe**

The MSV Worthington was a ghost ship. The second Shepard stepped through the airlock she regretted only bringing Tali and Kaidan. She had suspected a tech problem, but Joker radioed in to tell her that the airlock had sealed behind them. Life sign readings were inconclusive, but there was definitely something on the ship. The life support system was still running as well, and the medical bay was draining power fast.

"Let's make this quick," Shepard said to her crew, "We don't want to be stuck here too long. I think we'd best get to the med bay, find out what the power drain is."

"If we see wounded?" Kaidan was assigned the role of team medic for the mission.

"We tend to them first, but stay aware; I don't want us walking into an ambush here."

They double-timed into the ship, very aware of the noises echoing through to them. Intellectually Shepard knew that a ship made the noises normally, but it was beyond creepy. They stepped into the main hold, where someone had taken the time to stack boxes up, making a maze through to the other side.

"Weapons out," Shepard pulled her shotgun, wishing she could have the power of the sniper rifle in a smaller package. Her squad closed up ranks next to her, and she heard them breathing deeply as they tried to keep their nerves steady.

Approaching one of the walls, they had to pass by a fire extinguisher system, which exploded when they were a foot away, compressed gas battering their shields and pushing them back further into the maze. "Someone set that up!" Tali sounded more indignant than anything.

"Tali, take point, scan for traps, Kaidan, watch the rear, I don't want something sneaking up on us."

They moved to position and set off again, Tali holding her omni-tool out in front of her and carefully scanning before she stepped, sweeping it up and down the sides of the crates and across the floor. Behind, Kaidan kept his biotic field powered up, but mild, and his pistol raised. Shepard tried to divide her attention equally between the two of them, listening closely to try and distinguish between the normal sounds of a ship at rest, and something more sinister.

They triggered the door to the crew quarters, stepping through to an empty room. After the explosives, Shepard had been expecting destruction, but it looked like any other crew bunk. "Check the personnel log." She told Tali, "Kaidan, we're keeping the door covered."

The logs revealed a young woman among the crew, and a possible source of the medical power drain. "Do you think Jacob might still be alive in there?" Kaidan asked, gesturing to the med bay.

"I don't want to think anything yet, and whether he's alive or not, it sounds like Julia might be unstable, which gives us probable cause."

"There's nothing else Shepard."

"Let's check the captain's log, that should give us a little more information."

The log confirmed Shepard's fears. It sounded like Julia had gone completely insane, killing the captain and probably the rest of the crew, leaving the ship orbiting helplessly. "She killed her captain?" Tali sounded disgusted, "Why would she do something like that?"

"Love makes you crazy?" Kaidan suggested.

Shepard shook her head, "So does obsession. We know nothing about these people, but we do know that Julia attacked her captain, and probably killed him, that's enough. Weapons ready, we're going into the medical bay."

While Tali opened the door from afar and Kaidan kept a field up, Shepard placed a proximity mine by the door. If Julia was inside, she would have to stay inside, where they could talk to her. Nothing came out of the room when it was opened though, and Shepard slid carefully round the corner. She could see a body on the table, presumably Jacob, but no one else.

"Check the medical logs," She told Tali, deactivating the mine and putting it back in place. "Kaidan, your best examination of the patient, is he really brain dead?" She covered the door while they carried out the tasks, listening closely as the medical log played.

"He's already gone Commander," Kaidan reported, "I think the decent thing would just be to let him go."

"I agree," Tali was walking back, "According to the medical logs there hasn't been a spark in his brain for a long time.

Shepard took her eyes off the door for a second to make sure her teammates were heading back into position, and abruptly found herself flying into a wall. _Ouch,_ She thought blearily, then got her eyes refocused and saw a young woman dressed in mechanic's overalls come charging through the door, a biotic field up and a shotgun in hand.

Her wild fire bounced off Tali's powerful shields, and Kaidan used the bed as momentary protection while he drew more power up from his biotics. A warping field surrounded Julia, whose biotic barrier dropped. Shepard and Tali fired together, two shotgun slugs tearing through the woman's body. She dropped with a scream of frustration, and starting thrashing furiously on the floor, a biotic corona flickering in and out of existence around her.

Shepard drew her pistol and steeled herself, stepping as close as she dared and taking aim. She managed to keep her eyes open as she blew the young woman's brains out, but she couldn't keep looking for long. "Kaidan police that weapon."

"Yes ma'am," The Lieutenant sounded like he was about to throw up, but he scooped up the shotgun regardless as Shepard went to the med bay console.

"Are you sure that Jacob is already brain dead?" She asked, frustrated to hear her voice trying to crack.

Both her teammates agreed, and she toggled up the display as quickly as possible. The hum of the life support machine died behind her and she wheeled round, "Let's get off this ship, call in the Alliance, and get out of this system."

She marched off before they could answer, leaving them to follow helplessly in her wake.

By the time she got back to the airlock Garrus had finished hacking through the override Julia had put on the door. The rest of the team, minus Liara, was suited up and ready to go, weapons loaded and shields flickering from the close proximity. They parted when Shepard came marching through, looking to Tali or Kaidan to explain.

"Joker, get on the comm. to Alliance Command, I want a retrieval team out here immediately, then get us out of the system, we're heading to Farinata, full speed." She wheeled back to her team, "Stay in uniform, we're going to be taking a ship that's been boarded by biotic cultists. This one's important, so be ready."

They all nodded, then stared as she marched to her quarters.

"What's up with her?" Williams asked, looking to Kaidan.

He shrugged, "I don't know, nothing that I saw, and you were listening in the whole time."

Wrex snarled, "This Julia was a coward, Shepard must be angry at such an unworthy foe."

"I don't think that's likely," Garrus rubbed the back of his head, "I think this must be something personal, we probably shouldn't pry."

Shepard made it to her quarters, out of her suit, and onto her bed before the impact of the mission hit her. Her hands were shaking, and it quickly spread through her entire body until she was shivering, staring blankly at the floor. Sweat drops rolled down her forehead and off the end of her nose, diverting her attention for a moment.

She ran a hand through her hair, shaking the sweat off and trying to control her breathing. It was getting so easy. Putting down the 'little threats' was just a case of drawing weapons and blasting away now. Even on Noveria, she had done everything she could to keep the ARCS guards alive. _What happened?_

Her door chimed, bringing her back to the present. She rubbed her face, still breathing hard, "One moment," She stood and grabbed a towel, running it over her face until it looked like she was red from scrubbing instead of crying.

It was Kaidan, and he looked concerned. "Shepard, is something the matter?"

"No Kaidan, just another hard mission. She was barely an adult."

"I know, but it's just," He paused and tried to find the right words, "It's hard for the team when you have a problem."

"I don't have a problem Kaidan."

He frowned, "The team goes both ways Shepard, we're always talking to you about our problems, why not tell us yours sometimes?"

She sighed, "I appreciate the gesture Kaidan, really I do, but I really don't have a problem."

"Alright Shepard, whatever you say." He looked disappointed, but he went back to the door anyway, stopping just before he left, "Liara's been really down since we left the Citadel." He told her, then walked out.

She locked her door automatically, then flung the towel into a corner and started collecting her armour. The body sheath needed a clean before she could use it again, but the outer plates of the armour were all intact. She checked the time before they arrived in system and groaned. She only had a couple of hours to get the sheath cleaned.

_Not the first time I've worn it wet._ She wished she could convince herself she wasn't just using meaningless busywork to take her mind off things.

"Coming in system, the ship is in range, twenty minutes to docking."

"I don't want fatalities," She told her squad, who were all gathered in place, "We do this quick, we do this clean."

Wrex growled, "And if they don't want this to be clean?"

"Then you wound only," She stared down the krogan until he bowed his head, "Make no mistake people, we are here on a hostage rescue mission, but from the transmissions the biotic group have been sending out they may or may not be a wronged party also. I don't want to have to explain why a ship full of innocents were mowed down by my squad."

She waited until everyone had nodded, then turned to Joker, "Take us in fast and hard, don't give them any time to react." He nodded and toggled some commands. They couldn't feel the acceleration, but through the viewport she could see the ship approaching faster.

"Everyone, follow my lead once we get in, Kaidan stick with me, everyone else secure and clear." Shepard stood by the airlock, pulling her shotgun and keeping it flat along her leg. Her arm was still unhealed, and Chakwas had been very vocal about her going on another mission. Shepard wasn't having any of it though, she needed to do something before her head exploded from all the thoughts she had rattling around inside.

"Docking now," Joker said, a little unnecessarily as the entire ship rattled with the impact. The force knocked the ship out of its orbit and into one of Joker's choosing while the quick hack-job Tali had worked up forced the airlock open and kept it there.

"Move!" Shepard yelled, rushing into the ship at top speed. From further in she could hear the terrorists yelling about the intruders, but the Normandy's heavier drive core was interfering with the ship's eezo field, and for a few crucial seconds Shepard's team would have a distinct advantage. She planned to make the most of it, rushing across the barren cargo hold and ignoring all of the biotics, who were tumbling around.

One of them managed to blindside her with a lucky pistol shot, but her shield caught it and absorbed all the energy. She slammed into the door on the other side of the hold and slapped the access panel, letting herself drop through the opening. She saw the rest of her team dealing with the biotics, who had managed to get control of themselves. Kaidan was still with her, his corona flaring with bullet impacts.

"The consul's transponder is through there!" Kaidan ducked down to yell at her, gesturing to the door in question.

She nodded and opened her omni-tool, hacking directly into the door controls. Gunfire echoed through from the hold, and she could vaguely hear the sounds of her team fighting, Williams invectives and the impossibly loud smacking noise Wrex made when he punched people. There were going to be more than a few broken bones by the sounds of things, but no one would die.

The door cycled open and she stepped through, bringing her shotgun up one handed to focus on the leader of the biotics, who had his own shotgun against the head of a man in councillor's clothing. Two more biotics in the room aimed at Shepard, but she only sneered at them, "Go on, but I hope you can get through my shields before I drop you."

"Don't push me!" The biotic leader yelled, "I'll kill him," To emphasise the point he shoved the barrel of his shotgun into the councillor.

"You do that and you lose all your negotiating privileges, I'll drop you before you even get a corona up." She could read him far too easily, the uncertain flicker in his eyes as he tried to gauge her seriousness. Behind her Kaidan was through the door, his pistol up and his biotics in overdrive, the electromagnetic waves setting her teeth on edge.

They stayed frozen for a moment, and the sounds of battle from the hold came to a halt as well. A moment later Garrus radioed in, "All threats taken care of commander, and for now they're all breathing."

"We have the upper hand," Shepard laid it out, "At any time we can take you all down, and it won't be pleasant. Or we can talk, and get this sorted out."

The leader was cracking, "I don't wanna die today." He said, and his shotgun was wavering.

"Put the gun away, we'll talk."

He complied, closing it into safe mode and laying it on the deck. The other biotics did so as well, and Shepard lowered her own gun, but kept it ready. "Now let's talk. What are your demands?"

"Burns here promised us reparations, payment for our faulty implants. But then he turned around, and we've been left out to dry, again."

"I never knew the biotics were this desperate!" There was a sour stink in the air, and the councillor's trousers had several dark patches on them. He was babbling wildly. "Now I've seen what lengths you were willing to go to, I'll make sure you get the reparations, I promise!"

"Just like you promised last time?"

"Calm down," Shepard tapped the shotgun against her leg meaningfully, "Burns, will you stand by your word? I'll know, one way or the other."

"Who are you?" The biotic leader stared at her.

"Commander Shepard, Council SPECTRE."

"I trust the Council even less than I trust this piece of dog-waste."

Kaidan stepped forward, and his voice was quiet and collected. "I'm an L2, like you. Trust me, the Commander can make sure Burns follows through." It was astonishing how much the simple statement sounded like a threat against Burns.

"Sure, you promise us freedom and say everything will be fine." The biotic leader glanced down at his shotgun, and Shepard felt her shoulders tightening up. "As soon as we surrender you'll double cross us."

"I'm not promising to let you go, all I'm saying is that Burns will take another look." She had the measure of Burns already. He was a toadying coward, and if he thought a SPECTRE was looking over his shoulder then he'd follow through.

He whimpered a little, as if he knew she was thinking about him, "The reparations will come, for whatever it's worth, I promise that."

"We surrender Commander," The biotic leader rubbed his head, "Maybe something will happen this time, I can only hope."

"Kaidan, radio Garrus the surrender, have the crew stand down and assemble by the airlock." He nodded and hurried off to carry out her instructions. She turned to the biotics and Burns, "I'm staying in system, on my ship, until the Alliance has come to clear this up." She warned them, "So no-one try anything. You have permission to administer first aid to your wounded, but all your weapons are now mine."

"Yes ma'am," The leader collected up the three shotguns and handed them over to Shepard, who nodded to Burns and headed back to the ship.

Kaidan was already there, the rest of the crew still gathering weapons. "I don't mean to criticise Commander, but that was a cold manoeuvre."

"Sometimes you just have to let the other guy know you could crush him if you had to." She told him, already feeling the adrenaline rush wearing off. "I hate to command and run, but I have important duties on the ship, can you take over here?"

He nodded, "I'll message you when we have the weapons stored."

"You do that," She activated the Normandy airlock, "Tell everyone they can come back on board the Normandy when they're done, I don't anticipate the biotics causing trouble, not with us in system and attached to the ship."

She left the collected shotguns just inside the door of the captured vessel and stepped onto the Normandy, ignoring the AI out of habit. "Joker!" She yelled.

"Yes Commander?"

"Call in fifth fleet. We're remaining here on station until they arrive and deal with this."

"Yes ma'am." She heard him calling it in as she marched back down to the Medical Bay, where she found Chakwas preparing her medical kit.

"Can I help you Commander?" She asked, "Your suit doesn't report injuries, but some of your crew need patches.

"My complaint isn't physical." Now she was actually here, Shepard's immediate instinct was to turn and flee, but she had determined she needed to do this, and there was no better time than when her entire crew was on the other ship.

"There isn't anything in your files to suggest you have anything that needs attention."

"I need a psych evaluation."

"On what grounds?" Chakwas was already heading to her terminal, loading up a schedule and personnel records.

"Recurring problems stemming from psychological issues dating from the slave raid on Mindoir."

"Your psyche profile from the time suggests that you made a full recovery from Mindoir."

She nodded, "The stress of this mission, Akuze, meeting a survivor of Mindoir on the Citadel," She took a deep breath, "Doctor, I'm no longer certain of my abilities in a battle situation, much less my suitability for command."

The doctor leaned back in her chair, "This is unexpected I must admit. You've never shown any signs of someone traditionally suffering from any conventional form of stress."

"I'm very good at hiding things."

"May I ask you something frankly?"

"By all means, I think we're past the command structure here."

"Are you intending for this psyche profile to become the basis for longer-term psycho-analysis?"

"I don't know."

"Commander, what's brought this on, really?"

Shepard squirmed, but if she wanted to get better, she needed to be honest with the doctor from the start, "Liara."

Chakwas' face split into a knowing smile. "I wondered. She's not been her usual chipper self lately. I take it she confronted you about something?"

"Not really, she confronted me, I realised something about myself that needed changing."

"How very vague," She toggled something on her computer, "I'll contact you with appointment times, you may select ones most appropriate to you."

"Thank you doctor." She headed back to her room, already uncertain about her decision.

**AN:-** Shepard is proud and headstrong, but she's not an idiot. She's confronting her problems, which is going to be the theme for the next few chapters (man, I wonder why I want Shepard to be going to therapy, with Virmire approaching so fast?) Hopefully no one has any idea about what's going to happen on Virmire (specifics I mean). And anyway, I still have to get through Feros first.

Also, we should hopefully see the return of the crew meals soon. I'll be working on this ASAP, but I have an essay due in two weeks, and I kinda need to do well on it, so I don't know when I'll update next.


	19. Chapter 18: Old Pains

**AN:-** Right, away we go. Hopefully this and the next chapter will clear up the most important sidequests, and then I can bring on the end. Hopefully there's actual emotional content in this chapter, but I am notoriously awful at writing good emotional stuff.

**Chapter Eighteen: Old Pains**

"Shepard." She had only just emerged from a wash, and was still towelling her hair dry when Hackett connected her. according to Joker it was urgent. "We've had several reports of dead scientists in the Ontarom system. It appears mercenaries have seized a base and killed several."

"That sounds like a hell of a situation Admiral, but why contact me? Surely you have other teams who could deal with this?" She sat on her bed, wishing she had some sort of robe, instead of the pathetically small towels the military issued. Her door was locked, but still, it wasn't a comfortable experience.

"All these scientists worked on a classified project on Akuze."

She nearly dropped the towel in shock. "And so you thought you'd contact me?"

"Commander I'm not going to pretend I know what you went through on Akuze, but when I saw what these scientists worked on I just thought you should know."

"Were there any details of the project?" She was already digging out some clothes.

"Nothing, just a classified file and a marker about the planet Akuze." There was a long pause, "I can still hand it off to one of my subordinates?"

"No, I can handle it; I need to know what's going on here."

"Very well Shepard, I'll let Fleet Command know you're on the job. And Commander?"

"Yes sir?"

"Good luck, whatever's out there."

She was struck by the comment, "Thank you sir."

Hackett signed off and she sent the message through to Joker. She had an appointment with Chakwas in the next half hour, and she imagined her doctor would have something to say about a mission related to Akuze.

"Your problem isn't that you don't confront these issues Commander."

They were in the captain's quarters, mainly for privacy. Chakwas had insisted they move two chairs over to the side of the room. Apparently it would be bad if Shepard started to associate her therapy sessions and her workspace, or with the place she was supposed to sleep. Shepard was in casual wear, and for some reason Chakwas had brought in a blanket as well, and insisted Shepard do something with it.

"Your problem is that you try and bash up against these issues head first."

She shrugged, smoothing the blanket on her lap, "How else would you confront something?"

"Let me phrase it in different terminology." Chakwas crossed her legs, "If you were required to get into an enemy bunker, would you charge headlong into it and hope to absorb all the damage?"

Shepard had never quite thought of it like that. "No, I wouldn't."

"What would you do instead?"

She considered, "I'd probably try and gather some intelligence on the location, find a way in, go in quietly and try and stay unnoticed."

"So, with that in mind, what is the way in here?"

"I don't know," She considered, "It's all about my memories isn't it? I suppose a good memory might be something to focus on."

"What would a good memory be?"

Unbidden, an image of the Dean's daughter flashed into her head, "Remember when we were talking about my rebellious past?"

"Getting caught out with a young woman, yes."

"Well there's more to the story than just that. She's one of my happiest memories from Mindoir. We spent a lot of time together, exploring the colony, exploring the surrounding area." She shrugged, pulling the blanket a little further up so it partly covered her stomach, "Just doing normal kid things. Finding places we weren't supposed to go, things we weren't supposed to do."

"And I suppose the relationship was another thing you weren't supposed to do?"

"There's no discrimination as such in the colonies, but with such a small populace they encourage hetero-normative values a lot more." She frowned at her own use of jargon, "They prefer it if people, er, produce children naturally. It costs less."

"So you were rebellious as a child?"

Shepard grinned, "Absolutely, I was always breaking rules. Little rules about going to sleep when the lights were out, big rules like flirting with the Dean's daughter, everything."

"What was her name?"

"Hanna." It had been years since she'd said the name, and for some reason it brought another flood of memories. "Hanna Gibson." She brushed tears away from her eyes.

"What did she look like?"

That was easy, "Blonde hair, down to her shoulders, button nose, big eyes, she always looked surprised," Shepard was shocked to find she was crying, "She was taller than me, thin, but elegant, and it always seemed like she was moving, even when she still, there was just something about her." She brought the blanket up to her face and pushed it against her eyes, "And she was always smiling, all the time, nothing ever made her stop smiling."

Chakwas let her cry, and it was nearly a minute before Shepard felt able to bring the blanket down, "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise for emotions Shepard." The doctor's tone was matter-of-fact, "Somewhere along the way you must have learned that emotions were something to be hidden, but that's for another time. For now, let's go back to Mindoir. What was your home like?"

An hour later Chakwas finally nodded, "I think we've done enough for today, unless you want to continue?"

Shepard shook her head. It had been intense enough, and so far all they had done was talk about her life before the raid, something she hadn't done since it happened. Thinking about home usually brought memories of the raid with it, but for a moment she had managed to forget that part.

"This is going to be a painful process for you Shepard, I won't lie. You will probably experience sleeplessness, nightmares, and your emotions will be riding closer to the surface than usual. I can prescribe medication if you want help sleeping, but it's entirely your choice."

"No thanks doctor. If I'm going to do this, I have to know that I can do it off my own willpower, no medication."

Chakwas sighed, "Have it your way." Standing, she raised an eyebrow, "Now do you want to hold onto the blanket or should I take it with me?"

Shepard realised she was still holding the thing across her legs, stretching the fabric out and letting it relax in compulsive movements. "I think it's best if you take it," She stood as well, and handing it back, "Thank you for this doctor."

"It's my job Commander, no thanks are required." The frustrated tone returned, "But I hear there is another mission now, one related to Akuze?"

"I have to do this doctor."

"I can't stop you, but I can demand that you have a session immediately upon your return."

It wasn't quite the reaction Shepard had expected, "That's fine, as long as I don't need medical attention first."

"One thing I have learned working with this crew is that every mission ends with someone in need of medical attention." The doctor nodded, "Until next time Commander."

She left, and when the door had cycled closed Shepard locked it. She didn't want anyone disturbing her for a while. It felt like she had run a marathon, and with a day left before they arrived at Ontarom she wanted nothing more than to sleep. Not even bothering to get out of her casual wear she crashed into the mattress and was asleep in moments.

She woke sweating an hour later, her hands shaking so hard she couldn't even push herself up. It her mind's eyes she watched Hanna's face melting, again and again, as bursts of yellow fire struck it from all around. The eyes watched her all the way, the beautiful hazel eyes she had been describing only a few hours before. Filled with accusation.

_I didn't see her die; I don't know how she died._ She had only known Hanna was dead after reading her name in the official reports. She had seen someone die that way though. Her mother had died in front of her when one of the slavers turned a plasma torch on the house. _I want her back,_ Her breath was shaky, _I want my family, I want Hanna, I want my life back._

She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms round them, trying to shut out the images. Her room was too dark; in a fit of panic she turned all the lights on, but was greeted by an empty space. _See, no ghosts in my room, only in my head._

Far too slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and she was able to lie down again, curling herself round one of her pillows and breathing into it. _Chakwas was right. This is going to be hell._

Shepard gathered her team an hour before the drop for a briefing. "I'm not sure what to expect on this one," She admitted, "So I'm playing it safe, perhaps a little too safe. Everyone's going, and I want everyone armed to the teeth. Mercenaries have seized a base and killed scientists, that much we know. We also know that these scientists are in some way connected to Akuze."

"Do you think someone could be trying to set a trap for you?" Kaidan asked.

"I don't know, but it's one of the possibilities, which is why everyone's going. It may be that this is entirely random; it may be that this is part of something much bigger. We won't know until we land." She surveyed the team, which was back to full operational strength at last, and itching to get out again. "No reckless moves."

She waited until they had all nodded, "Dismissed." As they filed out she saw Liara pause at the door, but the asari left without saying anything.

_Go easy,_ She told herself, _You're not anywhere near to right at the moment. If you want Liara, and you do, then you want to be someone who is worthy of her._ She turned her attention to her own weapons and armour.

The situation at the research facility was about as she had expected. A half dozen mercenaries outside that she sniped easily from the vantage point of a hill a half mile away, and the motion scans detected several more inside.

She sent Wrex and Williams in first, with Liara and Kaidan as their backup. She and Tali stayed at the rear. The quarian was still fighting the effects of the infection she had picked up on Noveria, and Shepard didn't want her to be exposed to potential suit breach again, even if she was fighting-ready.

Garrus was on scanning duty, "Looks like all the scientists are dead," He paused, running his omni tool over the logo they all wore. "Commander, do you recognise this symbol?"

It was a diamond in black and orange. "If it's something military it's nothing I've seen. Probably just a civilian outfit, or even just the lead scientist's ego."

While Wrex stomped over to the far door Williams returned to report, "All hostiles eliminated ma'am, waiting for Tali to crack the door."

"Hang on," Shepard held the quarian back, "Scan it Garrus, we don't want something ambushing us."

The turian obliged, "Two humanoids," A second's pause, "Confirmed human. Heat sensor shows one pointing at the other."

Shepard checked the scan, "He's not pointing, hostage situation, Tali, get that door open, everyone back, we don't to spook him."

The door cycled open after a moment's fiddling, revealing one last mercenary, who was wearing what looked like an old colonial marines uniform. He was pointing a pistol at a scientist.

"Stay back," He growled, "I've got no grief with you. All I want is this bastard."

The sxcientist gave her a terrified look, unwilling to take his eyes off the pistol for even a second, "Please he's a madman, Mister Toombs, you're insane. You need help."

_Toombs._ Shepard felt her jaw drop, and all the strength bled out of her shoulders. _Scientists, Akuze, mercenaries killing them. It makes sense, but it can't be._

"Shut up, you don't get to lie, you don't," The mercenary rocked back on his heels and turned, revealing his face, "Shepard, my God Shepard. Is that you?"

There was no doubt, "Toombs," She could barely make her voice work, "But you were on Akuze. I saw the Thresher Maw pull you under." He had gone down only a second after Torres. The squad's lieutenant was definitely dead, she had been melted by the Thresher's acid.

"They took me Shepard, the scientists."

"You can't prove any of this," The scientist's tone gave her all the evidence she needed, and she felt her hands clench into fists, one hand brushing over the butt of her pistol. "This man is delusional."

Toombs lowered the pistol and held his arms out to Shepard, "See, they were running tests on the Thresher Maws. They let those things hit us just to watch and study." Her vision was tunnelling, she couldn't even see Toombs. Her entire body was shaking, her muscles clenched hard. The screams were back in her head, "I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I had survived; now they had someone to run tests on." The bitterness in his voice brought her back to the present.

"Toombs," It felt so strange, even saying his name. "I didn't see anybody, if I'd seen you," She stepped forward, her own arms out like his, "I would have come back for you I swear."

The scientist was still babbling, apparently realising how tenuous his own situation was, "You can't believe Toombs, he doesn't have any proof. I demand a fair trial."

"Commander Shepard was at Akuze," Liara was standing behind her, a supporting hand on her shoulder, or possibly the asari was holding her back, "I doubt you will receive much sympathy from her."

"This man deserves to die Shepard," Their eyes locked, and Shepard saw something ugly behind the man's face. She had thought she had been broken, but by comparison, Toombs had been shattered into thousands of pieces. "For you, for me. For everyone else in the unit." He snapped the gun up, "Are you with me?"

The blood rose in her own vision as she turned to look at the scientist, knowing she would have undergone the same treatment had she been caught. But Liara's hand on her shoulder was a constant reminder that she hadn't been subjected to whatever they had done to him, "You're better than this Toombs." She grabbed the pistol, slipping her finger behind the trigger so it couldn't fire. "You're not like them."

"Don't tell me who I am!" He growled it at her, trying to fire. She gritted her teeth as he forced the pistol against her gloved hand, "You got away with a few scratches and scary reputation, the rest of the unit died and I was tortured for years Shepard." It was Talitha all over again, she could have been just as damaged, just as tortured, "You can't judge me, you don't have the right."

Did she? Whatever he had suffered, the only thing left was a certainty that the scientists needed to die. Would she have done any different if she had come across the evidence of what they were doing? Then she realised, she already was, "Toombs," She was amazed at how calm she sounded, "If I could have helped you on Akuze I would have. All I can do is help now, let me."

He took a long shuddering breath, and his grip relaxed, "Okay," He sounded defeated, "I'm no murderer. They couldn't make me one." His eyes were pleading now, and he looked more like a small child. It was a look she knew, having seen it in her mirror, "Just as long as he goes to trial. Maybe the screaming will stop now," _It hasn't for me,_ Her own breath was short, "I don't know."

"Those bastards can't hurt you anymore," She fixed the scientist in place with a glare, and Garrus stepped up and pinned his arms for good measure, looking almost as disgusted as she felt. "Joker," She took the gun from Toombs, who staggered against a wall and slumped to the floor, his head sinking forwards to rest on his knees, and he started rocking gently, "Tell the fifth fleet we need a fleet for pickup, one prisoner and one torture victim."

"Aye aye."

Shepard didn't throw anything when she got back to her room. She didn't fall on the bed crying. She didn't even have the shakes. She felt empty. Everything she had done, everything she had thought she was, and there were two more survivors in her stories. What was it that kept her from their fates? Was it simply luck? Cruel and dispassionate? Was she numb to it, and always had been, an empty shell masquerading at being human without knowing the real emotions behind it?

_Or maybe_, it was a new voice in her head, one she had hadn't heard before. It spoke with confidence she wasn't used to, _You've got the strength underneath. The fire needed to be a commander, and take whatever gets dished out without breaking._

Her door chimed. "It's open," She called, glancing round quickly to make sure there was nothing embarrassing or inappropriate around. Nothing caught her eye; she was just sitting at her table, shell shocked and weary.

Liara came in, obviously fresh from a quick wash and wearing a loose fitting tunic and flowing trousers.

"That could not have been pleasant," She said, almost exactly mimicking what she had said only a few days ago about another remnant of Shepard's past.

It was enough to put a smile on Shepard's face, albeit a glum one, "I've always thought of myself as some sort of lone survivor, of everything. Only one of my colony to survive the slavers' raid, only one of my squad to make it out of Akuze alive. Now I find there's another survivor from both events, and they're broken completely. Shattered husks that used to be people I knew."

"Was it better when you were the only one?" Liara looked confused.

"I wasn't even thinking of that," Shepard closed her eyes and started rubbing her hands together, "I was just wondering if I'd been broken all this time without realising it."

Liara came right up to her chair and pulled her into an embrace. Shepard took a deep breath, smelling the exotic scent of Liara's skin. There was something deeply calming about it.

"You are not broken now." Liara told her, "And if you were in the past then you have put yourself back together." She somehow managed to get herself on eye level with Shepard, still holding her. They were barely an inch apart, "You may want to move some pieces around, but they are a whole, and the whole is good."

"Really?"

"If the whole was not good, you would not have a crew ready to throw themselves after the foe we have," She paused, "And you would not have drawn me to you."

"Uh, Liara?"

"Yes?" Suddenly all of the tension she thought she had lost was back like a taser jolt to the spine.

"Please understand, but I don't want to start something now, I'm not ready."

The asari smiled, "First it was I who was not ready, now you are uncertain?"

Shepard nodded, smiling herself, "I'm trying to sort out who I am, talking to Chakwas about it, confronting these issues. When I've got a better idea who I am I'll be able to start thinking about that again."

"You waited for me, and I will wait for you." Liara kissed her gently on the forehead, "And I too am talking to Chakwas, about my mother, maybe we will be able to talk to each other soon."

"I'd like that."

**AN:-** I didn't want to end this scene with Liara leaving. It may be a silly cliche to have scenes just end with characters doing something and no explanation of what happens next, but there's a reason so many people use it.

I've had the Toombs scene written since about chapter eight, back when i was playing Saleon's quest. I decided very early that i wanted Shepard to start falling apart a little towards the end of the story, and have it coincide with the Noveria mission and liara's breakdown over Benezia. It's mainly about the power in the relationship. I want them (as I've said) to come into the relationship on mostly the same ground. Similarly emotionally bruised but healing, and both in need of it, rather than it being one who was more ready and the other coming round. In the game you can have Shepard and Liara declare their love within about two missions, and they just spend the rest of the game waiting for liara to be ready, which struck me as being a little weird, and not on the same level as the Kaidan or Williams relationships, which are a bit more equal from start to finish.

This is basically the reason I made my story a Liara/Shep, because I wanted to change this dynamic and write it the way I want to see it, more romantically (that and a lesbian Shepard is just all kinds of okay.)

Next chapter: Hades Dogs


	20. Chapter 19: Hades' Dogs

**AN:- **And we're back! More therapy, dealing with Cerberus, and basically setting up so we can go to Feros at last.

**Chapter Nineteen: Hades' Dogs**

"Would you like me to be blunt about your recent escapades?"

"Please do."

Chakwas was having her session, Shepard once more with the blanket spread over her knees.

"You are now suffering a rather unique form of survivor's guilt. You believed yourself to be the only survivor of the events at Mindoir and Akuze, and I believe you may honestly have come to terms with this original guilt, but now you find you were not the only survivor."

"Well that can't be survivor's guilt then can it?" Shepard argued, feeling a need to defend herself. "Because I'm not the only survivor now. I should be happy that I found other people."

"How would you describe them to me?"

"Huh?"

Chakwas smiled encouragingly, "The other two survivors, can you describe them for me?"

Shepard thought about it, suddenly guessing where Chakwas was going. "They were broken, mentally and physically. Talitha had been abused, Toombs was experimented on. Both of them were barely cognisant when I spoke to them."

"And you are not."

"I am broken," She bit her lip, "I was broken."

"You might have been, I don't know because I didn't meet you then, but to compare," She had a copy of the situation reports from the two missions, "Talitha was child-like, emaciated, and had Stockholm Syndrome. Toombs was homicidal and obsessed with vengeance." She closed the reports, "You are the first human SPECTRE, a decorated Alliance Marine, in charge of a crew charged with saving the entire galaxy from total extinction."

Shepard was getting confused, "So why should I feel bad?"

"You shouldn't, in point of fact, but the reason you do is because you now feel bad for having survived and adjusted. Like I said, it's not survivor's guilt because you are alive and they are not, it's survivor's guilt because you survived the trauma, and they did not."

"But I never went through the trauma they did, I wasn't enslaved, or experimented on."

"But you were in the position that you could have been, and you weren't, thus, as far as your brain is concerned, you survived."

Shepard frowned, "That sort of makes sense. So you're saying that I keep thinking I should have been captured."

Chakwas tapped the mission reports a few times, considering, "Not exactly thinking it, not consciously at least, but your subconscious, having met these people, is now having to confront something it didn't expect to. You recovered from the initial trauma, but now there is a whole new one, related to the original one, and you are having trouble differentiating."

"How can I differentiate?"

"You can't, unfortunately, because you aren't a machine, you can't just shut off certain functions until you need them again. What you have to do now is make your peace with all of these issues."

"At once?"

"No not at once," Chakwas smiled, "I won't be expecting you to conquer all your demons in one go. Trust me Shepard, although it's hard to start, with enough progress it will suddenly become easier to do this." She leaned back in the chair, "Now, last time we were discussing your schooldays back on Mindoir, you mentioned a few pranks you pulled."

Shepard smiled, "You want to hear about them?"

"Oh yes."

"Well the very first one started when one of my friends got a low mark on one of his papers."

It ended up being a lot like the last session, talking about her childhood memories, slowly getting to grips with what her life had been like once upon a time. It was amazing what simply talking about it turned up. She'd been avoiding thinking about it for over ten years, and in so many ways it was nice to finally remember her parents, without associating them with the raid.

She went to her desk computer, preparing the full report she would send to Admiral Hackett, and was surprised when her personal messages beeped at her. She opened it up and was met with a security clearance alert from the Alliance. _Odd._

After passing through the first level she was allowed to see that it was from Admiral Kahoku. _Why would an Admiral be contacting me?_ She clicked through the next few levels of security and by the time she reached the message itself she had remembered who Kahoku was. _This must be about his men; maybe he found something he needs help with._

It was a short piece of text.

_Shepard, I have little time._

_The marines you found had been lured into a trap by an organisation called Cerberus. They are extremely dangerous and must be stopped. They used to be an Alliance group but have gone completely rogue._

_They are onto me; I don't expect to survive much longer. Attached to this communiqué are coordinates where you can find the Cerberus facilities. I ask that you destroy them._

Shepard sat back from her desk and processed. _This must be done._

She got out of her chair and marched to the cockpit, "New coordinates Joker," She said as she came in, "We're going to the Voyager Cluster."

"Anywhere in particular?" He asked.

She noticed he was looking a little flushed, "Anything wrong Joker?"

"No ma'am, just performing some routine calibrations." He toggled up the right screen, "System?"

Behind her something clanked, and she barely managed to avoid looking. Joker jumped a little in his chair, "The Yangtze system. And give the entire crew a warning when we're a few hours out. We're going up against a group called Cerberus."

"Do we know them?"

"I have my suspicions we've met before, but so far all we know is that they lured Admiral Kahoku's men into that trap with Thresher Maw back on Edolus."

"So we're assuming danger?"

"I received a communication from Kahoku, and he seems to think that they're worthy of worry." She turned, a glimpse of skin visible behind one of the other chairs, "And take a couple of hours off when you've set the course, I don't want my pilot over-stressed."

"Uh, Commander, I don't know if that's necessary."

"Don't worry Joker; nothing's going to happen if you take some time."

Once she was on the way to the CIC she ducked quickly behind the bulkhead and listened. There was a faint rustling and a moment later Ashley's voice, very muted. "Do you think she knew?"

Joker was just as quiet, "I don't think so."

Shepard grinned; _I really shouldn't be enjoying this so much._

"So anyway, you've got some time after this; do you want to come to the port hold for some more calibrations?"

"I think I could be tempted."

Shepard hurried away, still grinning, before one of them turned around and spotted her. She headed down to the CIC and was stopped by Pressly. "I was wondering if I might have a moment Commander?"

"Of course Pressly, I keep an open door policy."

"I just wanted to ask where we were heading to next."

"Next stop is the planet Binthu in the Yangtze System; we're going to bring down Cerberus. Then we're going to Feros, to make sure the colonists are okay."

"Permission to speak freely ma'am?"

"Granted."

"Do you think we might be drifting away from our mission?"

"How so?"

"Our mission should be to stop Saren, and yet we've spent almost as much time clearing up domestic disputes or chasing raiders and slavers."

"You don't think we should be helping these people?"

He frowned, "I think we should help where we can, but surely diverting our course in order to deal with other issues is stretching that mandate a little far?"

"I can assure you Pressly that I consider our mission to stop Saren of paramount importance, but equally I have had concerns about our squadron's readiness for some time now."

"Commander?"

She folded her arms, "I've been gathering members of various species, and we're all going on a mission to try and defeat not only a rogue SPECTRE, but also potentially some sort of machine army he's trying to bring back. I needed to train my people up, and get us working as a proper team, instead of some sort of ragtag team of misfits."

"I... understand ma'am." He saluted, "Thank you for explaining."

"No problem Pressly, carry on."

She headed back to her room, thankful that at least some people on her crew were easy to deal with. She nodded to Kaidan, who was sitting at the table reading a report while spooning some sort of mushy stew into his mouth.

"Anything good?" She asked.

He smiled, "The report or the stew?"

"Either."

"I wanted to see exactly what Garrus' calibrations had done to the mako. Turns out we've had steadily increasing weapons efficiency. And the stew is foul, but I've been practicing with my biotics today and I'm even more hungry than usual."

"You practice a lot?"

"Whenever we're not on mission."

"You getting better?"

He nodded, "Every day a little more power, a little more control." He frowned, looking down at his meal, "It's odd really. Before today I'd always seen my biotics as a burden. Something I could do, and it got me a place in the Alliance, but if I could have had a life without them I would have. Now though, seeing myself improving, seeing what I can do when I really try, seeing what Liara can do and wanting to get there myself." He smiled and looked up again, "It's given me a lot to think about, about myself."

""I'm glad the mission helped."

The smile widened, "Not the mission Commander, you. You're always pushing us, every one of the crew. We're all getting better."

She was touched by the compliment, "You really think so? I've just been trying to get the job done."

"You're selling yourself short. When this all started we were struggling to take down the Thresher Maw, or even to fight back against the geth on Eden Prime. Now, look how far we've come." He held up the report, "Heck, even the mako's got better specs than it had when we started."

She laughed, "Alright Kaidan, you've made your point. I'm glad you think we're doing so well." She checked her omni tool, "We're heading to Binthu, Kahoku sent me a message, we need to deal with Cerberus."

He was all business in a moment, "I'll be ready Commander."

"You always are Kaidan. See you when we land."

"Binthu is not the most pleasant of planets," Shepard told her team as they stood next to the mako, "Carbon dioxide atmosphere with a toxic haze made up of various unpleasant chemicals. It's the perfect place for a secret base because there the planet is inhospitable and uninhabited. Nothing for anyone to care about."

"How many bases are there?" Wrex asked.

"Three bases, and we can't get a clear scan on anything besides that. They could have any number of troops down there, and we know they've been experimenting on Thresher Maws, so we should be prepared that they could have reinforcements from that quarter as well."

"Coming up on the drop Commander." Joker's voice echoed round the hold.

"Alright everyone, into the mako."

The first base was sitting at the bottom of a hill, and started firing rockets at them the moment they crested. Shepard slewed the tank round until it was side on to the facility, sliding down the hill at speed. The cannon rang out and the shield around the defence towers sparked out, Wrex opened up with the assault gun and the defences fell.

"Out and in," Shepard practically crashed them into the side of the base, and the team poured out, Tali hacking the door the moment she touched dirt.

"We're in," She said, opening the way for them.

Inside they met no resistance, which set Shepard on edge immediately, "Weapons out, and everyone be careful, this could get nasty."

They ran through an abandoned living area and found what was clearly a testing area. A barrier had been erected, and inside she could see humanoid creatures milling around. They moved strangely, swaying slightly and bumping up against each other and the barrier. She didn't have time to see any more because a round bounced off her shields, and suddenly the room was filled with shouting.

Commandos poured out from either side of the barrier, and a couple of lab technicians powered up biotic fields as well. Shepard crouched to the deck and let Wrex and Ashley fire over her head, bringing out her sniper rifle and firing at a nearby computer. As she had hoped it dropped the field, and the creatures poured out, attacking the commandos en masse.

"Good thinking Commander," Garrus stepped past her and added his fire to the others. The commandos went down, and the few creatures that were left swarmed the door.

"Take 'em," Shepard said, biting her lip and wishing she had another option.

The things exploded when shot, spewing green fluid everywhere. Where it touched the decks it sizzled on contact, but wasn't powerful enough to burn through. When the last of them had popped Shepard stood, "Tali, check any files you can, get an idea of what these things were, and where they came from. What was Cerberus dong with them?"

The quarian nodded and hurried to terminal.

"Garrus, I'm assuming that all these facilities will be linked, can you make sure that we haven't triggered some sort of alarm? I don't want a hundred commandos waiting for us at the next one."

"Shouldn't be too hard."

"Wrex, Williams, collect the weapons and search the bodies, anything that might tell us more about this place. Everyone else, usual positions, secure and explore."

She folded up her rifle and went over to Tali, who was breaking through firewalls faster than Shepard could track. "Anything?"

"Those things were referred to as 'Creepers' and as far as I can tell the scientists here were experimenting on them, trying to create disposable shock troops."

"They didn't have much success," Shepard guessed.

Tali shook her head, "It looks like the things were absolutely mindless. They couldn't be controlled, they just attacked at random."

"Do all the facilities have them?"

"I can't be sure, but there are references to various specimens, with different numbers and classifications everywhere. I think the other facilities dealt in other creatures."

Shepard sighed and rubbed a hand over her helmet, "Great, more unknowns, just what I wanted. Keep looking Tali, we move out ASAP."

Garrus was gesturing at her, "As far as I can tell the defence systems are controlled by a central controlled, not individually."

"So they know we're here?"

"The central controller does, but that could be entirely automated, which means that the other facilities would have no idea about our presence. Or the entire system could have activated, or it could all be operated, which means an alert will have gone up."

"So you in fact can't tell me at all whether they know we're here?"

He looked as sheepish as a turian could, "Correct. I can't crack this system."

She nodded, "Right, thanks for trying," She turned back to the others, "We don't have much more information on the security here, so we're going to hope for the best and move for the next facility right now. If the system is automated we might get lucky, if not then we'll just have to hope the element of surprise gets us through."

They nodded and trooped back to the mako.

The next facility hadn't been alerted, and they managed to take two of the scientists down silently before a commando noticed them. Inside the testing area were some rachni workers, and Shepard was in no mood to release them. The last thing she wanted was to have a little green bug exploding next to her when she was trying to knock down Cerberus forces.

Tali broke the system just as easily; though this time none of them had to ask what the creatures were. "Same as before Commander, but I do have some communications here from a central command base. This place is definitely Cerberus, but there's no information about what exactly that means."

"So far I don't think it means anything good."

"Agreed," Liara had come up behind them, "I hate to think what the final facility may contain."

"We need to keep moving," Shepard smiled at Liara as she turned, "One more facility, and we still seem to have gone unnoticed by any security."

The final facility held one last grisly surprise for them. Admiral Kahoku's body was locked in the containment field, along with a rachni warrior. Shepard's tactic was a little simpler than before, opening the field and locking the door, her whole team waiting while the screams of research technicians came through.

Shepard spent the whole time staring at the door, her face set in stone. She could feel the others keeping their distance, but even through the containment field she had seen the mess Kahoku's body was in. After Toombs, she didn't think anyone in Cerberus deserved much more mercy. Eventually the screams died down.

"Garrus," She said, and the turian stepped forward to open the door. She drew her shotgun and waited.

The second the door cycled open the warrior came skidding round a corner, screeching at them. She fired once and it dropped, the shotgun blast tearing half its body away. "Everyone in, same jobs as always. Garrus, I want you to find this central control base. We've still got one last trip to take."

She went to Kahoku, grimacing at the sight of his body. She didn't think it was the rachni that had killed him; for all that his body was covered in lacerations and wounds from it. There were needle tracks up and down his arms, and a particularly large hole in his neck. She suspected some sort of IV needle. The rachni had eaten most of one leg, and his torso had suffered similar treatment.

"Shepard?"

"We owe it to him Liara," She said without turning. "He was a member of the Alliance, a decorated war hero. It's not right that this happened to him. Cerberus have to go down."

"I understand Commander but," The asari stepped into her sight line and guided her a few steps away from the body, "You know that you have had problems with this group already. I do not want to see you suffer more trauma because of this."

"I don't think it's like that Liara." Shepard met the woman's eyes, "I think this might help me."

"Just don't be afraid to feel something while you do it. The look in your eyes just now, it was not a nice one."

Garrus interrupted before Shepard had to think of something to say. "I've got it Commander."

Nepheron was similar to Binthu in that it was not somewhere Shepard imagined people went willingly. Volcanic ash and soot was everywhere, obscuring her vision and getting in her armour. The suits air filters couldn't quite get rid of the smell of sulphur, and the wind kept threatening to push her over.

She was staring down at the Cerberus headquarters from the top of a hill, wondering why they hadn't stationed anyone outside. Presumably they were hoping that no one would stumble across their facility out in the middle of nowhere, but it still seemed odd.

"In and out fast," She told her team, "Any computers we find, try and drain them before they purge the database. We need some hard evidence on these people."

**AN:-** I decided not to have the final fight scene. I think by this point in the story it should be fairly obvious. Team goes in, shoots lots of people, spirited but ineffective resistance to them, eventually someone does something exotic that ends the fight. There's only so many times you can write that before it gets boring.

Also, I suddenly realised that I was kind of echoing Pressly's feelings. Shepard is supposed to be destroying Saren and the Reapers, not acting as a galactic cop. I kind of gave them a bit more time with the whole 'Citadel Fleet guarding the Mu Relay,' but that's no excuse for not carrying on the real plot. So yeah, next chapter they head to Feros.


	21. Chapter 20: Feros

**AN:-** After the five-chapter-1500-word-gelatinous-mess that was Noveria, I resolved to get through Feros a little faster, and with more action. It helps that on Feros most of the time is taken up by side-quests, whereas if you just do the main plot it's the second shortest main campaign. Noveria is nothing but side-quests.

**Chapter Twenty: Feros**

"There's not much Commander."

Shepard sighed and chucked her own datapad onto the table. They were at the dining table, for lack of anywhere else they could gather and discuss things. None of them had been able to decipher anything out of the tangled mass of data they had managed to recover.

"I just don't think we got the right codes," Garrus was still poring over his, "We got the raw data, but not the encryption keys, or any of the really sensitive data. This is just shipping lanes, trade routes, things like that."

Tali nodded, "I think Garrus has the right idea, anything sensitive is either locked, or was deleted before we had a chance to get to it."

"Okay, I think we can call it a day then," Shepard stood, stretching the kinks out of her spine, "We've been at this long enough. I'll route this to Alliance command, maybe they can make something of it. Cerberus was an Alliance group after all." She gathered up her own datapad, "Everyone go have a break. We head for Feros in the morning."

The room cleared, and she headed back up to the CIC. "Okay Joker, one last thing for today. I need you to open a channel to Alliance command; we're sending them some data for analysis."

"Uh, Commander?"

"Yes Joker?"

"I've got someone on the line; I think you'll want to talk to them."

The voice was distorted, and not simply by the long range communication. "Shepard, I am a representative of the Shadow Broker. You have recently come into possession of some data on the Cerberus organisation. My employer would like this information."

"Why should I give it to you?"

"One way or the other this information will come to us, this way you gain the favour of the Shadow Broker, and he is a powerful man."

"Let me guess, if I don't give it to you I gain the ire of the Shadow Broker."

"Of course."

Shepard considered for a moment. Barla Von had given her the information she needed about Saren, so in a way she already owed the Shadow Broker's organisation something. "Alright, I'm transmitting a copy of the data now."

"Thank you Shepard, your cooperation will be noted."

When the line closed Joker's voice replaced it almost immediately, "The Alliance wouldn't be happy if they knew you'd done that."

"Kahoku must have dealt with them to get his information, and we already dealt with the Shadow Broker back on the Citadel." She submitted the data to go to the Alliance, "And besides, I'm a SPECTRE now, so the Alliance doesn't exactly have the authority to stop me."

"You like bending the rules, don't you?"

"Not exactly, but I see when it's necessary."

"Data away Commander, where to next?"

"We're going to Feros, it's time we got back on the trail for Saren, and those colonists may need our help."

"It won't take long to get there."

She had already thought of that, "Set up in orbit and scan the planet once we arrive. I don't want to go in blind here, and we need a rest."

"Understood Commander, laying in course now."

On her way down to her quarters she decided to stop by and see how Liara was doing. The asari didn't need to sleep as often as the human crewmembers, so she could often be found poking around the ship at odd hours. Chakwas was getting some rest, having patched up the minor injuries the crew had sustained, and the medical bay was entirely empty.

She opened the door to Liara's room and saw that the asari had headphones on and was intently watching something on her computer. Curious, she stepped further in and cleared her throat. Liara jumped and the jack fell out of the computer.

"Dir-ective?" Said the computer.

"Classified."

Liara hurried to pause the movie, while Shepard stood with a raised eyebrow and watched her. When the scientist was done she turned back to the Commander. "I'm sorry, that was nothing."

"Wall-E?" Shepard couldn't quite keep the grin off her face. "Why, if you don't me asking?"

Liara cast around the room as if looking or an excuse, then slumped a little. "I am trying to understand human culture a little better. I wanted to be able to help you as much as I could, and to do that I needed to understand your people."

"Which led to, Wall-E?"

"There are many asari scholars who believe that the works of Pixar are among the greatest your culture has ever produced. I am also reading your great works of literature, listening to your most acclaimed musicians. It is quite an education. Might I ask what a 'Hollaback Girl' is?"

Shepard snorted with laughter, immediately covering her mouth and trying to look serious. "Who exactly are these asari scholars?"

Liara brought up her omni tool, "There are several, and they are often contradictory. I watched the movies of a man named 'Uvy Ball' on the recommendation of one scholar, but I was deeply disappointed. The interactive movies from 'Bioware' were very good though."

"We call them videogames. Joker's a fan, you should talk to him."

Liara nodded, looking very serious, and took notes. "This is all so new to me, I have never had such prolonged contact with another species before, and suddenly here I am on a ship crewed entirely by other species."

Shepard chuckled and went over to her, "And we do appreciate you being here, but I don't think you need to go to great lengths to understand us."

"I am not trying to understand humans Shepard; I am trying to understand you."

Shepard's eyebrow shot up again, "Uh, why exactly?"

"You are trying so hard to overcome your problems, and I am too, and I wanted to be able to help you with yours."

"Liara, all you had to do was ask."

"Then I am asking now."

"Well it's a long story, and we are supposed to be on a mission tomorrow." Shepard considered, "Look, after Feros, we'll talk, properly, about everything. How's that?"

"That would be wonderful Shepard."

Shepard went for the door, "Okay, but if we're doing this then you're calling me by my first name. And you're telling me your life story as well. All one hundred and six years."

"Okay Shep..." Liara paused for a long time, then very sheepishly corrected herself, "Maia."

Feros was one of the nicer planets they had visited in quite some time. But then given their recent travelling that wasn't really a point in its favour. Some would probably consider the clouds beautiful, but to Shepard they were more foreboding, covering the planet's surface entirely. She shivered a little as she looked at them, glad that her armour concealed her discomfort.

"All right Joker, take us in." She turned to where her entire squad was waiting. After the practical ambush on Noveria, she wasn't taking any more chances with half squads. "Everyone get ready, we don't know what's on the other side of that airlock."

Ashley took point and they followed her along the dock to find a man waiting for them.

"We saw your ship," He said without preamble, "Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately."

Shepard stepped past Ashley, "Who's Fai Dan?"

"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth," Shepard grimaced, the geth were already here, again. "They're making another push." The man gestured behind him, "Up the stairs and urgh!" His chest exploded outwards as a red energy blast hit him. He pitched forward, assault rifle fire already slicing through the air after him.

The squad fired on instinct, moving forward to cover, and the geth who had dropped in behind them were wiped out in seconds. Shepard pushed forward, chasing more geth up the stairs. The machines weren't much of a problem anymore, and her shields barely even dipped as she fought through them.

They dashed through the makeshift colony, ignoring the looks they were getting from the frightened colonists, and came to the front defences, where a man gestured them over.

"Commander I'm glad they finally sent someone to help us."

The woman next to him wasn't quite so pleased, "You're a bit late aren't you?"

"Arcelia! Sorry Commander, everyone's on edge since the geth attacked us."

Before Shepard could even speak the woman was yelling, "Watch out! We've got geth in the tower!"

Once more her team leaped into action, Wrex and Ashley charging forward to clear a path. Behind them Shepard and Garrus moved quickly to take out the surrounding snipers while Liara flung black holes around the stairs. Before too long they had fought their way past several dozen geth and found some sort of transmitting tower.

Clearly the geth didn't want them there, because wave upon wave kept pouring through the tunnels at. "Tali, Kaidan, I want that transmitter down now!" She yelled back, "Hopefully it'll stop the geth, and buy the colonists some time as well."

The rest of the team took up cover behind some fallen masonry, holding the geth back while the techs worked on bringing the tower off-line. After a few harrowing minutes Kaidan rushed back, "It's about to blow."

"Move!" Shepard threw herself over her own bit of cover and hunkered down, the team followed her lead, just getting down before the top of the tower flew off and its body shattered open. Shards of metal dropped down around them, but none penetrated their shields.

Shepard stood and dusted herself off, "Everyone okay?"

"I've got a few dings in the armour but nothing vital," Garrus reported.

"A few dings in my skin," Wrex grunted, and it sounded almost like he was laughing, "But nothing vital."

Shepard shook her head at the krogan, but everyone else only had their shields drained. She led the way back to the colony, where Fai Dan looked happy to see her.

"The tower's secure, thanks to you Commander."

She waved the praise away, "I'm just glad your colony's safe."

"I appreciate your concern, and your efforts against the geth." She frowned a little. There was something odd about his speech. It was almost like he was sounding out the words, it sounded mechanical. She pushed the concern away, it was probably just an accent she didn't recognise.

"They may have been slowed but they'll be back , they always come back."

Shepard smiled, "I destroyed a transmitter tower in there. The geth attacks should be stopped until they can get a new one up. I've bought you some time, possibly days." She came back to business, "Help me find what the geth are after and you'll all get out of this alive."

"We don't know what they're after, they came they attacked us, that's all we know." Fai Dan tapped his gun against his leg a couple of times, then seemed to reach a decision, "Their main base is at the Exo-Geni headquarters, a good place to start looking if you want answers."

She nodded. Joker had pointed out the Sky-Way and the Exo-Geni building to her before they landed. It was likely to be crawling with geth, but they would make it. She led her team back into the tower and into the elevator to the colony garage, where a mako was sitting ready for them.

"It won't be calibrated right," Garrus moaned as they got in, "Just once couldn't we take out own mako on one of these geth traps? That's what I'm working on it for."

Shepard grinned and turned the thing on, "Alright people, hang on."

Liara looked a little concerned, "You do know that there is very little margin for error out there Shepard?"

"I'm a much better driver than I was."

Everyone else hurried to strap themselves in as Shepard shoved it into gear and they rumbled off.

The Sky-Way was packed with geth, just as Shepard had guessed. The mako shook again and again as Garrus fired the turret, and whenever Wrex opened up with the assault gun the resulting rattle shook their teeth.

"This is not an optimal mode of transportation," Garrus growled at her.

"Thank you Garrus," She swerved dangerously close to the edge to avoid a missile, "Next time I'll be sure to ask Joker to drop us right into the middle of a hot spot."

Tali pushed the thrusters and they jumped over an energy bolt, the tank shutting down for a moment when they landed. They sat in silence for a moment, trying to process the various pains running over them.

"How about we don't do that again?" Shepard asked when she had stopped shaking.

She started them forward again, much more careful about confronting the geth. Instead of charging right in she hung back and let Garrus and Wrex bring their numbers down before coming in close for the final few blows.

As they got closer to the Exo-Geni building transmission started coming through. "Kaidan, see if you can nail those transmissions down."

"Aye aye Commander."

They pushed forwards, Kaidan honing in on the signal. He piped what he had through every so often, revealing some sort of fight between a man and woman about the woman's daughter. As they passed through another doorway the signal strength suddenly boosted.

"Down there Commander."

Shepard saw a small ramp, with some lights set up along the edges.

"Tali, Liara, come with me, everyone else keep a look out for geth."

They dropped out of the mako and jogged down the tunnel, coming up short when a half dozen guns were thrust into their faces. A man stepped up behind the soldiers.

"That's close enough." He said. She recognised his voice from the communications.

A woman stepped up next to him, "Relax Jeong," It was the woman from the transmission, "They're obviously not geth."

The man wasn't convinced. "Who are you? What do you want?"

She lowered her hands, wishing the soldiers would put their guns down, "Commander Shepard, I'm here to remove your geth problem."

"You see, you worry too much."

The man rounded on the woman, "And you trust too easily Juliana."

"I'm just glad to see a friendly face," She turned to Shepard and managed a tired smile, "I thought we were the only humans left on this planet."

"Fai Dan and some of the members of Zhu's Hope are still alive."

Now it was Juliana's turn to get angry, "I thought you said they were all dead." She snapped at Jeong.

"I said they were probably all dead."

"They are surviving despite everything the geth have done to them." Liara was obviously trying to be reassuring.

"We know what that's like, those damn synthetics are relentless."

Shepard decided to try asking for help."I'll do whatever I can to keep them away from you, but I need some information."

Jeong was instantly suspicious, "What kind of information?"

"Ignore him; the geth are up in the Exo-Geni headquarters. Just a bit further along the Sky-Way." Juliana was much more reasonable.

"Those headquarters are private property soldier," Shepard resisted the urge to punch Jeong, "Remove the geth and nothing else."

_For the love of... I thought we'd gotten enough bureaucracy on Noveria. "_I'm not interested in your company's secrets."

They turned to leave, but Juliana stepped forward, "Commander, before you go, my daughter 'Lizbeth, she's missing."

"They shouldn't waste time poking around, we can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the geth are gone."

"That's my daughter you're talking about!" Juliana turned back to Shepard, her eyes pleading, "She's still alive, I know it."

"If your daughter's alive I'll find her." Shepard said, and led her squad back up to the mako.

"Anything interesting?" Ashley asked as they clambered back in.

"Not really, some pencil-pushers and a concerned mother. We're going to find her daughter when we get into the headquarters."

"And if she's dead?" Wrex grunted.

Shepard met his gaze levelly, "Then we find her body."

She shunted the mako into gear again and they powered off.

The Sky-Way was a little less crowded on the way in, the geth apparently pulling back into the building. _That's gonna make things harder inside._

Sure enough, at the building there was a door, closed partway to allow the geth to shoot through. The mako wouldn't have fit at all. "Dammit." Shepard slid them to one side so the geth couldn't get a good angle. "Everyone out, and go in careful. They've got every advantage here."

Wrex went first again, letting his shields take most of the fire as he tried to sight the enemy. "We've got about twenty geth, all behind heavy cover, all with a good angle on the door." He told her.

"That's not good, Garrus, you and me, sniping from back there, see if we can thin the herd. Williams and Wrex on the door, when you see one of them move for any reason, try and bring them down, but no heroics. Liara, if you can get any sort of biotic thing in there, do it, same for you Kaidan, and if you can hack from here Tali, it might help."

She took a position to the right of the door, Garrus to the left, giving them maximum coverage, and they both set their rifles. The geth might have been shielded from a direct assault, but there were plenty of angles they hadn't covered, and it was child's play to snipe two or three each. The geth realised they were in danger and scrambled to find better cover, giving Ashley and Wrex perfect opportunities to take even more.

Soon the geth were reduced to a last handful, all running deeper into the facility, Wrex gleefully gave chase while the others regrouped, and came back a moment later with synthetic goop all over his armour.

"Having fun Wrex?" Shepard asked dryly.

"If this building is full of geth, it will be a good fight."

"There is a barrier which will keep us from taking a direct route in."Tali waved her omni-tool in the direction of the doorway. "We will need to find an alternate route."

Shepard sighed, "It can never go smooth, can it?" She led her team to a small opening that dropped down deeper into the facility, "We can never just go somewhere and fix the problem, we always have to go running around a base filled with geth or creepy monsters."

**AN:-** Commander Shepard channels Captain Reynolds at the end there.

I have been waiting to use that Pixar/Wall-E/Hollaback Girl joke since before I even started writing this. The entire story was just an excuse for me to have Liara T-Soni watching Wall-E at some point. On a related note, Uwe Boll sucks, Pixar rules and the ability of the characters in this story to play Bioware games is so meta is beggars belief, so I won't mention it again.

I do think it's interesting to think about what an alien culture might consider to be good though. After all they sent Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Stavinsky and _Chuck Berry _on the Voyager space prove to represent our culture, so heaven knows what any aliens who found that would think of it. Also, the asari could have an entirely different culture to us when it comes to entertainment (though the fact that the Justicars seem to be equatable to hero cops in movies might suggest a similar culture idea)

I spent way too long thinking about this one off joke.


	22. Chapter 21: ExoGeni

**AN:-** Like I said, as quick as possible. I did this entire mission in one playthrough, taking all the dialogue as I went, and I'm writing it up now. One of my seminars got cancelled today so I've got a whole two hours extra to write, which is pretty good.

**Chapter Twenty-One: Exo-Geni**

They dropped onto hard ground and slid carefully down the ramp, keeping their guns out and one eye on their radars. At the bottom of the ramp they found a dead varren, but when they steped out to investigate further a shot pinged off one the wall next to them. They all brought their guns up, stopping just short of filling the young woman in front of them with holes.

"Dammit, I'm so sorry; I thought you were geth, or one of those varren."

Shepard couldn't help but smile, there was something darkly humorous about the situation, "You're safe now, but why were you here in the first place?"

"It's my own fault, everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data," Shepard raised an eyebrow, surely no one would stay behind in a geth attack, especially for something as mundane as data storage? "Next thing I knew the geth ship latched on and the power went off. I was trapped, I tried to get out but the way was blocked."

"We'll get you out as soon as we find out what the geth are after."

"It's not the geth, it's the energy field they've put up, they don't want anyone else getting access to the..." She trailed off and looked sheepish.

"I'm only here for the geth," She said, "It's very important that I find out what they're after."

"I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the thorian."

_There's always something new and challenging. _"Thorian? What is that exactly?"

"It's an indigenous life form, Exo-Geni was studying it." _Why is it that every science facility I go into sounds like they're trying to recreate all the bad decisions from science-fiction movies?_

"What else can you tell me? Do you know where I can find this thorian?"

"I, I might be able to but not with those geth crawling around everywhere, look, we need to get out of here, past that field." She was hiding something, and it wasn't something good.

"Do you know how we can shut it down?"

"No. Not exactly, but I think the geth ship is powering it. I've noticed the geth laying power cables everywhere, you could follow those power cables, but there's geth all over the place."

"Not a problem." There were a series of rhythmic shots behind her and the squeals of varren getting shot. "We have experience with these sorts of situations," Shepard finished.

"Here, take my card, it should let you get around the facility."

Shepard read the name automatically. "Elizabeth Baynham." She looked up, "I don't suppose your mother works here?"

"She does, I haven't seen her since the attack, I hope she's alright."

"She's fine, she's with some more survivors a little further along the Sky-Way. Once we're out of here we'll take you to her."

"Oh thank you so much!" The girl practically bounced for joy, "I'm going to hide out here until you come back, good luck."

She hurried off into the dark, leaving Shepard and her squad alone again.

"Right, you heard her, geth in the facility, we need to go."

She waded across the tunnel, trying to ignore the cold seeping into her suit from the ankle deep water. There were no blips on her radar, only stairs. She jogged up them, her team clattering along behind, suddenly coming to a dead stop when she heard someone yelling a couple of floors above her.

"Stupid machine! Access the data!"

They walked up slowly, weapons out, and heard a VI's curt tones, "I am unable to comply, please contact your supervisor."

"Dammit tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust." It was a krogan, she saw as she reached the right level, arguing with a male VI terminal.

"Please contact your supervisor for a level 4 security exemption, or make an appointment with..."

"Stupid machine!"

Shepard raised her rifle slowly, hoping to get the krogan before he noticed them, "If there is nothing please step aside, there is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console."

_Drat._

The krogan spun round, a shotgun already in hand, and fired, the powerful blast tearing straight through her shields, she dropped and rolled out of the way as Wrex stepped into the doorway and opened up with his assault rifle. Shots ricocheted wildly as the two krogan unloaded into each other, but it was the enemy whose gun overheated first.

Shepard lined up her sniper rifle as best she could and fired, the powerful slug tearing a hole clean through her opponent's spine. With an aggravated grunt the krogan fell, and Wrex stepped in to finish him.

"Exo-Geni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons while on company policy is strictly forbidden." The VI was still talking. Shepard stepped in front of it, "Welcome back research assistant Elizabeth Baynham, what can I do for you?"

_Why does it think I'm? Oh, the pass card thing, _"What was the previous user trying to find out?"

"Information on Species 37."

_Bingo,_ "What did you tell the previous user?"

"I was unable to provide him with any relevant information. Besides lacking new data, all sensors in the Zhu's Hope control group have been disabled, leading to a lack of output."

"What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the thorian?"

"Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost/"

_Son of a bitch._ No wonder 'Lizbeth had been cagey, "Tell me everything you know about the thorian."

"The thorian is a simple plant life form that exhibits a sentient behaviour uncommon with other fauna. Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores it can infect and control other organisms, including humans. The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded interesting results. Before sensors went offline almost 85 percent of all test subjects were infected."

_This just keeps getting better and better, _"Are you saying Exo-Geni knew it's people were getting infected?"

"It was deemed necessary to assess the true potential of Species 37."

"That explains their strange behaviour." Liara commented from behind her. Shepard couldn't quite tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"We should warn the ship," Kaidan told her.

"Joker, come in Joker," There was nothing but static on the line, "Dammit, that field's blocking us."

"We must find a way around the field; we must get back to Zhu's Hope."

"VI, what can you tell me about the geth ship and the field it's generating?"

"I have no relevant data. The geth are drawing their power from the ship at several intrusion points."

_That's good enough for me. _"That's all for now."

She stepped away from the VI and turned to her crew, "Alright people, the geth are powering everything from their ship. We just have to find a way to disconnect it from the building, and everything shuts down."

They hurried to the top of the stairs, eyes on their motion trackers, and followed the corridors until they reached one of the intrusion points.

"Ah," Shepard stared up at the gigantic claw, "This may be a bit more problematic than I thought."

"We don't have the ordinance to blow through that," Garrus said, somewhat unnecessarily.

Tali ran her omni-tool through the air, "Even if we did, it'd bring the whole building down if we used it."

"I vote we keep the building standing."

"Thanks for that Williams." Shepard considered, "There might be something else we can use to dislodge one of these claws. Tali, how many claws would the ship have?"

The quarian shrugged, "I'd estimate three, based on typical geth designs."

"With that weak a base, even breaking off one of them would be enough to send the whole thing to the surface. Right," Shepard clapped her hands together, "We push on until we find one that isn't quite as securely anchored, then we bring it down."

"What if they're all this securely anchored?" Kaidan asked.

"Then we improvise lieutenant."

She looked over the edge of the balcony they were on and saw a trio of geth clustered round the base of the claw. They seemed to be kneeling in front of a bright light. "Garrus, get ready to pick off any survivors," She activated a grenade and chucked it into the middle, where it detonated and flung geth bits everywhere.

One of the torsos wasn't quite finished, trying to crawl towards them, but Garrus took its faceplate off with a single shot.

"Alright people, get moving." As the squad moved on she held Tali back, "What was that exactly? I've never seen the geth do anything like that."

"The geth blur the lines between organic and mechanic," Tali sounded very unsure, "Maybe they are honestly searching for a higher meaning to their existence."

"That's an odd thought."

Shepard didn't push any further though, choosing instead to fall into her usual place next to Garrus as they fought their way through room after room of geth and krogan. Eventually they found themselves in the room on the other side of the force-field.

"Wonderful," Ashley snarked as they carried on through a side corridor, "It only took us what, half an hour to get here?"

Up the stairs they found a huge party of geth, all bunkered down, and another one of the arms. This one had been pushed through an open docking-bay though, and the door still seemed to be intact. "Kaidan?" Sheard pulled the Lieutenant to one side as the others worked on mopping up the geth. "Those things have a fair bit of pressure behind them don't they?"

He nodded, "They also have safety features. Too much pressure and it trips the safety, so no door."

She scowled, "There has to be a way around that."

He considered, "Depending on the system, there might be a sweet spot in the system. Too much pressure and it trips, too little and it wouldn't have the force behind it that we need, but just right and it'll slam at full speed." The gunfire stopped and they could hear Wrex's happy breathing again, "Sounds like I'll get a chance to check."

Kaidan and Tali were hunched over the computer for a good ten minutes before the LT suddenly yelled, "Everyone take cover!"

Shepard ran for Liara, who was too absorbed in a Prothean mural to have paid attention, and tackled the scientist behind a geth terminal. The asari stared up at her, "Well this isn't so bad."

The door closed with an ear-splitting screech of metal on metal. Shepard covered her ears automatically, causing her to fall fully onto Liara, who was screwing up her face in pain. With a crunch the geth ship detached, and the entire building shook as the ship's bottom half swung down to crash through several levels down.

The rumbling got worse and the other claws tore free. Shepard looked up through the haze of dust and saw huge chunks of masonry coming down with the ship, hammering down on the metal. Then it all disappeared and the ship was free-falling. Several seconds later they heard the dull echoing thump as it hit the ground several miles below.

They reassembled, covered in dust, the humans with their hair standing on end so they looked like startled bush babies.

"I like a nice controlled mission," Ashley finally said.

Shepard realised that her radio was working again, "I repeat Normandy to shore party, is anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on Commander, talk to me!"

"Joker? What's going on over there?"

"We're in lockdown here Commander, something happened to colonists, they're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside the ship." There was a long pause, and he finally finished, "They're freaking out."

_Joker, master of understatement. _"They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back, just hold your position."

"Uh, yeah. Well we'll just wait right here for you Commander." He didn't have to add that there wasn't much else they could do.

"This place will be crawling soon," Shepard told her team, "Let's keep together."

They headed back the way they had come, pausing at the top of the stairwell to defend against the geth who had decided to attack. It was a perfect bottleneck, and when they came down they had to climb over the pile of geth bodies they had created. They reached the room where the barrier had been and found 'Lizbeth waiting for them.

"There you are, we should get out of here, I don't think this place is safe."

_Not so fast missy, _"I need some answers. You knew more about the thorian than you let on."

"I," She seemed to consider denying it, but then her shoulders slumped, "I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests but they threatened me, told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs, I tried to tell them where to find the thorian but the power cut before I could send the message." She shook her head, "I never meant for this to happen."

_It can never go smooth,_ Shepard thought, more than a little bitter, "You did what you could. I'll help them if you can tell me where to find the thorian."

"The thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked. The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked."

Shepard remembered the gigantic freighter which had been sitting in the middle of the colony, "But why are the geth after the thorian what could Saren want with it?"

"Well it does have unique mind control properties, that's what Exo-Geni was interested in."

"Normandy to shore party come in."

She turned away from 'Lizbeth and brought her radio up again, "What is it Joker?"

"We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter, looks like they're headed your way."

"Thanks for the heads up Joker," She turned to her team, "You heard the man, let's move out." She looked back to 'Lizbeth, "You come with us, I promised you I'd take you back to your mother after all."

It was an even tighter fit in the mako than usual with an extra passenger. In the end 'Lizbeth had to sit on the floor, clinging to Kaidan's chair as they drove back along the Sky-Way. There were a few scattered geth patrols, but no coordinated attacks. Shepard supposed that with the destruction of the transmitter and the ship the geth were probably about ready to pack it in, if the machines were capable of such an emotion.

The radio transmissions started up again as they got closer to the surviving researchers, and once again it sounded like Jeong was arguing with Juliana. They stopped next to the ramp and before Shepard could stop her 'Lizbeth had opened up the door and was running for the camp. Shepard followed, trusting her team to do the same.

She arrived to an argument between Jeong and Juliana. She and 'Lizbeth were hiding behind some of the piled bricks, "You can't do this Jeong!"

"Everyone shut up, let me think."

'Lizbeth turned to Shepard, "What's going on?"

Juliana started shouting again before Shepard could guess, "You won't get away with this!"

"Get her out of here!"

"Get away from her you son of a bitch!" _Oh bugger._

"'Lizbeth!"

"Dammit!" Jeong had a pistol out and ready, "Come out where I can see you, all of you."

Shepard walked down the ramp, her hands up again, her squad behind her. she would have had the upper hand in a fight, and everyone knew it. The colonial marines were looking at Wrex with barely concealed terror, "Shepard, dammit, I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you. I found some interesting facts about you in the Exo-Geni database. I know what happened on Akuze, this doesn't have to end like that."

_What an odd thing to say, it's not like I'm going to unleash Thresher Maws on him._

"We can talk this out," She said, "Nobody needs to get hurt."

"You don't understand, it's not that easy," _It never is,_ "Communications are back up, Exo-Geni wants this place purged." _Everyone always wants something purged._

"This is a human colony Jeong," 'Lizbeth was yelling at him, "You can't just repurpose us."

"It's not just you, there's something here far more valuable than a few colonists."

Shepard stepped back in, trying to direct attention away from the researchers, who were only going to push Jeong too far, "You're after the one unique thing Feros has, the thorian."

Juliana calmed down enough to ask, "The what?"

"It's a telepathic life form living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of the colonists there," 'Lizbeth paused in her narration and then added, "Exo-Geni knew all along."

Juliana's hackles were back up, "You won't get away with this Jeong."

"So you keep saying, but nobody's going to miss a few colonists."

Shepard once more resisted the urge to punch him, "Can't you see the inherent potential in this colony? Think of the promotional opportunities."

"Opportunities? What are you talking about?" Despite his confusion, she could see that the mention of promotion had lit some sort of primitive desire in the man's head.

"They recovered from an alien attack on a frontier world. Add that to your company profile." She had him, it was clear from his entire posture. The pistol in his hand was lowered and he was clearly already mulling over the ad campaign.

"Well yeah, no one's ever gone broke playing the champion of humanity card."

"Sadly, you'd probably make a killing," Juliana took a deep breath and looked at her daughter, "But if it will let us get back to our lives, I'm for it."

"It just might work." He looked back to Shepard, "But the affected colonist will throw a bit of a wrench in that plan, they need to disappear."

"You can't just kill the colonists; it's not their fault."

'Lizbeth stepped in with a solution. "If you kill only the thorian,. It might be enough to stop the infection. Maybe."

_At this point I'll take a maybe, it's more than I've had before. _"It's worth a try but I don't know if I can avoid harming the colonists."

"There has to be another way."

"Maybe there is," Now it was Juliana with the solution. Jeong was mostly forgotten, off in a corner devising a way to make himself the saviour of a colony. "Take this, it's a simple fertiliser based nerve relaxant. Combine it with a concussion grenade and it should knock out the colonists without affected you or your team."

Shepard took it, "Alright then, completely untested grenades versus an entire colony armed with very well tested rifles and pistols. We've faced worse odds." She glanced over at Jeong, "When this is over, try and meet up with the Zhu's Hope colonists. You're going to need to work together to get this place back on its feet."

Back in the mako Ashley grinned, "I didn't know you spoke corporate skipper."

"I'm just full of surprises."

**AN:-** So yeah, now it's just the colony and the thorian and this bit's done. I was rereading what I had so far and I really do think Noveria took too long, so I wanted to do this one at breakneck speed as a sort of anti-Noveria.

I love some of the dialogue in Bioware games, because you can tell that some of it fits better with other backgrounds or characters. Jeong saying he doesn't want things to end up like Akuze doesn't actually make much sense in the context, whereas the ruthless background fits it much better, or even the War Hero one, but they had their line of dialogue, and they were sticking to it. Also, there are a lot of indications that you were supposed to do Feros before Noveria, which means that some of the dialogue with Benezia makes no sense, and equally some of the dialogue with Shiala just reiterates things you already know because you've already met Benezia.


	23. Chapter 22: The Thorian

**AN:-** My apolgies in advance but the next chapter is almost solid action.

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Thorian**

The Sky-Way was getting easier to drive along, Shepard mused as she ramped them off a piece of debris to land on top of one of the geth rocket troopers that was trying to menace them. The suspension of the tank shook them hard but the last of the geth was down and she could pull them next to the garage.

They got out and saw a weird creature shambling towards them. Shepards eyes widened as she recognised one of the things from the Cerberus research facility. _Creeper_, She remembered, automatically drawing her shotgun and firing. It popped messily, spewing the semi-acidic gunk onto the tank.

"Kill the creepers, leave the colonists to me and the grenades."

She waited until everyone had nodded, and smacked the garage open button, revealing a garage full of the things, as well as some colonists up behind some cover. Bullets peppered her shield and she ran full pelt through the creepers before they could stand properly, scaling the side of the garage to come level with the colonists.

She clubbed two of them over the head and chucked a grenade between the other two, the green flash rendering them immediately comatose. Below her, her team had already managed to clear most of the creepers, and she waved them up, setting her motion tracker to differentiate between the infected colonists and creepers as she stepped into the elevator back down.

The trip through the colony was even more uninviting than it had been the first time. The creepers had a tendency to hide behind corners and vomit acid over her when she ran by, and the colonists were good enough shots to get her more often than they missed. Her shield was holding up well, but every so often a combined acid and bullet attack would lead to her taking a shot to her armour. There were only sixteen colonists by her count, and she had taken nine of them, but the final five were bunkered down tight.

She armed the last two grenades and hurled them behind the barricades, flinching as Wrex blasted a thorian that was right next to her head, and waited until she heard the distinctive _paff _of the gas-grenades going. The last few motion blips winked off her tracker.

"Alright Tali, get that freighter out of the way, everyone else secure the colonists. Weapons away, and sit them up wherever they are." They headed to carry out her orders, while she went to stand by Tali. She almost missed it when another blip appeared on her motion tracker, but the clack of a pistol unfolding brought her back to the present.

Fai Dan was walking towards them, his every step an effort, struggling to hold his gun down by his leg, and grimacing at them. When he spoke, his voice was strained, "I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head, you can't imagine the pain." Shepard got her own pistol and readied it, "I was supposed to be their leader, these people trusted me," His gun came up and she sighted on him, "It wants me to stop you, but I won't," He dragged the gun up to his own temple, "I won't!"

Before she could even make a move to stop him he pulled the trigger, and collapsed into a heap where he stood. Her team, alerted by the gunshot, ran over to see him collapsed. "What happened?" Garrus asked, noting the pistol in her hand.

"He shot himself, apparently the thorian didn't have that much control." She put her own pistol away and turned away from the body. It had all been going so well. _I guess bitter victories are all I get nowadays_.

Tali finished with the freighter controls, and it lifted aside to reveal a staircase leading down.

"Who wants to go into the dark scary cave filled with monsters?" Shepard joked, pulling her shotgun and leading the way.

At the bottom of the stairs was a huge chamber with a large pit in the bottom, surrounded on every side by balconies and pillars.

"Alright, we just need to find this creature and determine what it," Tali stopped dead, staring at the pit, "What it..." She stepped back, "Keelah, what is that?"

The thorian pulled itself up from the hole on gigantic roots. It was huge, a gigantic bulging mass with no clear shape or definition. The tentacles it was using for support were everywhere, weaved into the infrastructure of the building. Worse, it almost seemed to have a face to it, and that face was oriented towards them. Shepard couldn't shake the fact that it was looking at them.

"That..." She struggled to find the words, "Does not look like any plant I've ever seen. This may be problematic."

The thing heaved a jerked a few times, and the squad drew weapons automatically. Some tentacles at the bottom of its 'face' started to open and close, revealing a hole that was dripping some sort of clear fluid. _Freud would have a field day with this,_ Shepard mused as she stepped back, raising her pistol.

"Could you make it stop doing that?" Tali was trying to sound calm, but her voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

A shudder went through the entire creature and a figure dropped out of the hole, falling on its side and shucking clear fluid. It stood slowly, and Shepard saw the smooth head of an asari, but green rather than light blue. When it spoke the voice sounded like a hundred voices speaking as one, and as with the rachni queen, seemed to be partly inside her head as well.

"Invaders, your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth as I did for Saren, you are within and before the thorian, it commands that you be in awe!"

"You gave something to Saren," She was addressing the asari, but as she spoke the thorian quivered, "Something I need."

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the long cycle. Trades were made, then cold ones began killing the ones that would tend the next cycle," _The geth, Saren betrayed the thorian. That's not going to make my job any easier._ "Flesh fairly given, the Old Growth sees the air you push as lies, it will listen no more."

_If it's wants to play things the hard way, _"I won't let you keep your thralls, release them now!" She held her pistol up again, training it on the thorian, instead of the asari.

"No more will the thorian listen to those that scurry, your lies are short, but have gone on too long."

The asari flared and threw a biotic push at her. As she slammed into the wall Shepard heard her team opening up, and underneath the gunfire the screech of thorian creepers waking up. _Here we go again._ She stood, locking her knees to stay upright, and tried to centre on the nearest creeper, which was running towards her at an alarming speed.

Her shots didn't stop it, and in a second it was in front of her and vomiting over her. The green liquid stung as it covered her face, then it started to burn. _Oh not good not good,_ she fired blind, and judging by the pop she had hit it, but it showered her with even more acid. She gritted her teeth together and scraped at her face.

She heard someone yelling a long way away, "Shepard!" She fell back, crashing into a wall, rubbing furiously at her head, and felt someone else helping her with it.

"Ow," She muttered, cracking open one eye to see a very concerned Liara slicking acid off her. "Thanks."

"You have been badly burned," Liara's voice shook.

"I'll be fine, just need a minute," Shepard pushed herself onto an elbow, "We still under attack?"

The crack of Garrus' sniper rifle gave her an answer. Wincing in pain she pushed herself up, getting her other eye open and trying to piece together the scene. Another asari had been released, but Wrex was dealing with it, and they were being surrounded by creepers. She found her pistol on the floor and added her fire to the mix, dropping the creepers that were trying to eat Ashley.

"You okay Shepard?" Kaidan had appeared, holding medigel. His eyes widened when he got a good look at her face, but she waved him off.

"I'll be fine lieutenant, but we need to bring this thing down," She shouldered past him and spotted some stairs leading away. "Up the stairs!" She was already in motion, trying to track where the plant's roots led. Wrex had been firing at the main body of the creature for several seconds with no effect, but if they could weaken the roots the whole thing would collapse.

In theory anyway.

The stairs were free of creepers or green asari commandos, which made a nice change of pace, but without the rush of battle Shepard started to feel her wounds. Her entire face hurt, and her back was aching from where she had slammed into the wall. She had seen Liara throw people with enough strength to snap spines, but the asari hadn't had that sort of power, it was a small comfort, but still better than nothing.

On the first floor they ran straight into more creepers. Shepard skidded to a halt and dropped to one knee to allow her team to fire over her head. The concentrated fire took the things down in seconds, many of them before they had even risen, and in the small room beyond she could see one of the roots.

She fired into it, and the room shook as the thorian spasmed. Shepard grinned and fired again, joined a second later by her team. After a second of concentrated fire there was a noise like a suction pump and the root slid away from the wall, anchored only by the thinnest of tendrils. "Looks like that got a reaction," Garrus was pointing to the thorian, which had spit out another asari.

"Next one people, move it," She tried to lead the way, but her body wasn't cooperating and she stumbled a little, going down on one knee. She felt an arm under her shoulder and gratefully rested her weight onto it, feeling herself dragged along by her teammate. "Thanks."

"Didn't reckon the great Commander Shepard wanted to die here," Ashley said, firing her assault rifle one handed.

"You reckoned right," Shepard found her feet again and twisted, putting a bullet straight through the chest of the asari commando. The armour broke open to reveal the same green colour of the asari's skin and blood, and she dropped the same as if Shepard had hit flesh. "The commandos don't have armour," She said.

"We know. We did deal with one while you were hugging the floor."

_I'm never spending a few seconds blind and semi-conscious again._

They fought their way up to the second floor, where a tentacle had smashed through the balcony to anchor itself on the wall. They all equipped their assault rifles and opened up into it at point blank range; it dropped and nearly fell off the wall, just like the other one.

"How many of these do you reckon we need to destroy?" Kaidan asked her as they headed for the next flight of stairs.

"I don't know," She told him, "But it's a big plant, lots of weight, and there aren't that many roots, so it shouldn't take many more."

They pressed on, and destroyed two more of the things, but still the thorian clung valiantly in place. Shepard thought it might have wobbled slightly as they broke the fourth root, but then it could have been her imagination. Her team was slowing down as well. Every level they found more and more of the creepers, and asari commandos were being spit out at a constant rate. Pausing for breath only got them surrounded, but pushing on was going to be impossible for much longer.

"Shepard," Garrus heaved himself over to her cover behind a piece of fallen roof, "How long do you think we have left?"

"I don't know Garrus, but I don't have another way to fight this thing."

He growled, leaned out and blew a creeper in half, "This constant fighting is bringing us down, even Wrex is at his limit." It was true, the krogan wasn't even engaging in melee attacks anymore, choosing instead to stay behind cover and fire.

"We need something to thin them out faster," AN idea occurred to her and she drew one of the grenades she had stuck the nerve gas to, "This had an effect on the colonists, maybe it'll help." She chucked the grenade into the centre of a large group of attacking creepers and triggered it. The explosion blew waves of the gas over them, but had no effect.

"Dammit," Garrus leaned out again, but paused, "You might want to see this Shepard."

She peered briefly over the top of the cover, then raised her head when she saw that all the creepers had stopped moving, and were now just staring at the squad. They were also swelling, their limbs growing end-heavy and their stomachs distending.

"That's disgusting," Kaidan spat.

The creepers melted down to the floor, all the liquid in them draining out instead of exploding. "We have a new weapon," Shepard said, using the cover to bring herself up again, "Let's make the most of it."

She handed them all thorian gas grenades, "Let's keep moving soldiers."

She stepped round a corner and was blindsided by a new asari commando. She felt her feet leave the floor and a rush of air on the back of her head. _This is probably going to hurt._ She slammed into a wall and felt it crumble and give way, depositing her on the other side, in a new chamber where a dozen thorian creepers were stirring. Her vision was going grey and she couldn't even lift her pistol to fire at them.

Her ears buzzed and one eyelid was drooping as she considered the benefits of just falling asleep for her last few minutes. Images passed in front of her, and she recognised dimly her squad members as they disappeared underground, or liquefied in the Thresher Maws acid. Her family burned in front of her again and behind them she saw Hanna, running away. For a brief moment Benezia's face filled her vision, and then was pushed out by Liara's.

_Oh yeah._ Her eyes opened fully and saw the oncoming creepers. She still couldn't lift her pistol, but she could roll to one side as a jet of acid flew towards her. She carried on rolling until she hit a wall and was able to struggle until she was sitting against it. _Dying is not a good thing,_ She used her left arm to pull the right one up, the pistol coming with it. Balancing her wrist on her knee she tried to sight on something.

The pistol cracked and fell, and the creeper she hit only jerked in response, then its head exploded and a black hole appeared there instead. The other creepers were dragged towards it, their bodies mashing together and opening ruptures all along them. Acidic goo leaked out onto the floor and spread towards her, sizzling a little as it contacted her boots.

Liara was standing behind them, glowing the same brilliant blue she had been against Benezia. She strode over the acid and hoisted Shepard up one handed, throwing the Commander inelegantly over one shoulder. "You are not going to die on me Maia," She said, hurling half a dozen creepers into a wall to explode, "Because you and I are not done yet."

She hiked over the rubble and threw something at another thorian root before marching on, punching holes through the creepers that tried to stop her. "You and I are going to figure out what we are, and what we have, and what we, and what we want, and we are going to do it together, so you had better be around for it." Behind her the grenade exploded and the thorian shrieked as another tentacle broke free.

"You know I'm awake don't you?" Shepard asked, trying not to enjoy the sight of Liara's behind so close to her face, clad in a very tight set of armour.

"Of course I know you are awake, I want you to hear me and understand me." The asair jostled her shoulder, "And I want you to stop looking at me like that."

"Yes ma'am." Shepard tried to slip off the shoulder, but Liara wasn't having any of it.

"When we reach a safer spot, you may stand again." She gestured and another asari clone rocketed off the balcony to tumble down the central shaft.

Shepard looked up, and saw the entire squad hurrying to keep up, staring at Liara with awe, and Shepard with barely concealed amusement. She waved at them and went back to staring at Liara's back.

Behind cover of a doorway Liara let her biotic shield drop and lowered Shepard to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Shepard scraped some gunk off his pistol and avoided looking at Ashley, who had a grin plastered ear to ear. "Okay. I couldn't see, so how does the thorian look after that last tentacle?"

Tali had been bent double, panting, but she looked up at Shepard's question, "It's hanging on by a thread Shepard."

"Fantastic, only another one or two then." She looked at her team, whose armour was pockmarked and sparking in places. The bodies underneath weren't in much better shape. Ashley's left arm was hanging limp and she had a hole in her shoulder, and Wrex had an acid burn right through several layers of his stomach muscles. "We don't have much choice here, but hold on."

**AN:-** Writing protip- no matter how determined you are to make a chapter more exciting than its predecessors, don't write a three thousand word action scene with no breaks. I'm sorry for this one, it's hardly my best work, and by the end I was just kind of struggling for ways to make it more interesting.

Second writing protip- Trying to fit eight characters worth of dialogue into any scene is hard. Suddenly I understand why the games restrict you to three person teams. I'm sorry to fans of Wrex, but he's not one of my favourites and I'm not very good at writing him. Usually I just reserve him for when i need someone to do something badass.

Anyway, next chapter it's plot time again, and I think I'm about ready for Shepard and Liara to start talking.

Please read and review! I passed 5,000 hits on the last chapter, but I still have no idea if the majority of readers like it. Many many thanks to my dedicated reviewers, it is very appreciated.

Also, Liara being badass again. This is partly based on somethign that happened when I was playing the game (the singularity killing lots of thorians), and partly because she had to be believably badass by game 2, for reasons which anyone who's played it will know, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't.


	24. Chapter 23: The Cipher

**AN:-** Sorry this took so long. The problem with doing a Creative Writing course at university is that sometimes getting constant criticism can be a little hard. I haven't written anything pretty much since my last update, and this is about the only thing I've got that I'm not constnalty second guessing myself over when writing it.

But you don't come here to hear me bitch, so here's the end of Feros.

**Chapter Twenty-Three: The Cipher**

They didn't disappoint. Invigorated by the thought of an end to the fight her squad were pushed to new feats, blasting away the creepers with barely a second glance and finally reaching the top of the domed structure, where the final node was waiting for them. A gas grenade took care of it, and the thorian lurched sickeningly to one side, a screech ringing out from all the creepers as the last tentacle stretched to breaking point, then snapped with a crack like a gunshot.

The other tentacles followed, and Shepard was able to look over the balcony and see the thorian dropping down inch by inch as all the tentacles they hadn't destroyed took weight that was far too much for them. With a last roar the thorian fell into the pit, and a few seconds later they heard a dull crunch, mixed in with a horrid splat.

"That takes care of that," Garrus knelt and put his rifle onto his back, probably the turian equivalent of dropping in a heap from exhaustion. Shepard certainly felt like falling over, and Tali actually did sit heavily on the floor.

"It was a tough beast," Wrex admitted, "A good fight."

She looked at her squad, who were all sporting serious wounds and looked worse than she had ever seen them. A good fight? Not exactly the words. She holstered her pistol and stepped over to check on everyone when a pod on the wall started to shake.

"Not again," Ashley grunted as she lifted her rifle up.

Another asari dropped from the pod, and only her squad's exhaustion prevented them from perforating her. Shepard could see blue skin under the muck she was covered in, and waved her arm at her people. "Don't fire, she's not a clone."

They obeyed, but kept their guns up as the asari straightened and looked up, apparently not at all surprised she was waking to a squad of heavily armed marines. Shepard forced herself to step to the front of the group, and met the asari's eyes.

"I'm free," She said, rubbing her arms and looking around, "I, I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

"Is everything alright?" She had no idea about how this asari had ended up in the thorian's rather deadly care, so she wasn't going to automatically assume she was an agent of Saren. "Are you hurt?"

"I am fine, or I will be in time," She took a moment to collect herself, "My name is Shiala, I serve, I served Matriarach Benezia." Liara gasped behind them, but Shiala barely noticed, "When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia saw the influence Saren would have, she joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling, Benezia lost her way."

"We've seen Lady Benezia," Shepard frowned a little, "She's dead." She put two and two together, "Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people." There was no other way she would have gone to the thorian.

A wry smile appeared on Shiala's face, "He was quick to betray the thorian too. After he had what he wanted, he ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of his conduct. Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit, he knows you are following his steps; he attacked the thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."

"What's the Cipher, and why did Saren need it?"

"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions, but the visions are unclear, confusing. They were meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean, you must understand their history, their culture, their very existence, the thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city, it watched and studied them, when they died it consumed them they became a part of it."

_Before the Prothean built the city? That thing was over fifty thousand years old. _She suddenly felt a little guilty. Killing such an ancient creature was almost on par with wiping out the rachni, but she had felt no moral qualms about pruning a plant. "So the thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean. How?"

"Such knowledge cannot be taught, it simply exists."

_Helpful, _"I need that knowledge to stop Saren."

"There is a way I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren,," _Oh boy_, _Liara's not gonna like this. _Shiala stepped forwards, her eyes glazing over the mysterious black that signalled a melding, "Try to relax Commander." Shepard breathed deeply, and only dimly heard, "Embrace eternity!"

Shepard's head explodes in pain. Her eyes flicker too fast to take in images, and in a moment she realises she is no longer seeing the thorian's chamber. Images of planets rush by, statues and buildings and fortresses rising and falling. A millennia passing before she even has a chance to see how they were built, crumbling to dust while only the oldest remained, built to last the ages.

Sensations light her entire body, burning heat giving way to freezing cold, and a weird new feeling, like heat but from within, the core of her body becoming a blast furnace, and a sense of belonging began to creep into the edges of her mind, before wiping away as the years marched on. Smells invade her nose, shoving aside the smoke and blood to replace them with exotic, foreign scents. She picks one and tries to work it out, like a raging ocean, lilies in its wake, and beneath it the heady smells of something more, something she knows she recognises but can't place, a cinnamon and strawberry smell.

Too quickly the scents are gone and replaced by taste and sounds, music blended together into a cacophonous din that holds a tune and forces her to tap along to it, the steady drum of battle on her left conflicting with the reedy trill of peace in her right. She tastes every MRE she's ever eaten, every blend of home grown meats and indigenous plants her mother ever feeds her, and on top, riding the wave, the taste of lips on hers, and a body against her mouth, pressing close.

The pain returns, and Shepard falls to the floor, gasping.

"I have given you the Cipher," Above her, Shiala spoke, "Just as it was given to Saren, the ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

Liara knelt next to her, keeping a pistol trained on Shiala, "What was that, Commander Shepard, are you alright?

"I saw," Half remembered brilliance, a deep ache to _belong_ in the same way again, "Something, it still didn't make any sense."

"You have been given a great gift, the experience of an entire people, it will take time to process this information."

"We should get you back to the ship where you can be monitored." Liara helped her to stand, and Shepard leaned on her, a new ache in her back reminding her of where she had been thrown through a wall.

"I am sorry if you have suffered," To her credit Shiala actually sounded remorseful, "But there was no other way, you needed this Cipher, in time it will help you understand the vision from the beacon." She paused, "And now I stand before you Commander. What of me?"

"What will you do if I let you live?"

"Stay here, with the colonists. I lived with the thorian, I can help them overcome its effects. And whether any of us like it, we all share a bond, the thorian's influence will stay with us. If this colony stays together, and I with it, we may become," She paused for a long time over the word, "Kin?"

"It's a noble goal. I suppose the thorian's mind control overrode Saren's?"

Shiala nodded, "I feel no whispers in my mind, the only way to tell Sovereign speaks to you. The thorian is dead, its own power is gone too. I am alone."

"This whole mess is about to become a PR coup for the Exo-Geni corporation, I think you should be part of it." She winced and held a hand to her side, "We need medical attention, back to the ship."

When they staggered through the airlock Chakwas went so far as to raise both eyebrows instead of merely one. "My my Shepard, you are in a bad way."

"Thanks doctor," Shepard leaned up against a bulkhead, leaving the way clear for the others to bring themselves in. Tali had collapsed on their way back through the colony, and now Wrex and Ashley were bearing her between them. "How about we spend some time getting better now?"

"First things first, everyone lie down right now, no arguments," She held up a finger to Wrex, who was growling, "Either you get on that floor or you get off this ship and go find a new doctor."

Still grumbling, the krogan joined them on the floor. Chakwas typed some commands into her omni-tool and then went to start inspecting. "I've summoned some stretchers, but I want to get a look at some of this damage before we get into the medical bay."

She started with the seals on all of their armour, popping open the various clips that would allow her to remove it without a struggle, and now they were lying down, everyone was too tired to stop her. Shepard managed to crane her head round to see Ashley, who was staring right back, "Gunnery Chief, your opinion on the last mission?"

"The thorian was creepy ma'am," Ashley stayed deadpan as Chakwas hoisted her up like and baby and pulled the back plate off her armour, "My professional opinion is that we did the right thing sending it to the bottom of the pit." She was laid back down, still wearing her shoulder pads, but the entire torso of her armour removed. "What do you think LT?"

Chakwas had removed his leg armour first, to deal with what might have been a dislocated knee, "I think the Chief's right Commander, that thing wasn't worth the risks it posed."

Shepard dully felt her own armour being removed, revealing the block thermal body-stocking they all wore, "Good, it was different to the rachni, no doubt about that."

"The rachni was not trying to control everything it came into contact with, or making deals with an avowed enemy," Garrus looked much smaller without his armour, especially around the neck and head. "I think we should treat it the same way we treat the geth."

"Agreed," Wrex grunted, looking in curiosity at his own stomach wound.

"So what was the Cipher like?" Liara asked. Shepard couldn't quite see her, but she sounded like she was sulking.

Shepard considered, watching Chakwas pacing around them, clearly above the attempt at nonchalance. "The Cipher was odd, it kind of got mixed in with my own life, and all that history, but it wasn't like history as in dates and events. It was a feeling, a realisation." Lying in the closed confines, surrounded by the stale taste of sweat both human and alien, _Do aliens sweat?_ Shepard realised the smell from her vision. Cinnamon and strawberries, which floated over to her know from where Liara was lying. _Oh my._

"It sounds incredible."

"It sounds creepy," Ashley countered, "No offence to a Prothean scientist and my Commander, but I can do without someone sticking thousands of years of history into my head. There's more than enough history in there already."

"If you are all quite finished with this faux-bravado," Chakwas didn't quite sound annoyed, but it was hard to tell with her accent. _And general Britishness,_ "Then I am ready to start moving you to the medical bay."

In the medical bay there were already several beds waiting for them, and dividing curtains ready to be drawn across. Tali was first in, Chakwas sealing a special bubble around the quarian girl, Shepard found herself in the bed next to Tali's, with Liara in next to her. One by one the rest of the squad were wheeled in, and Chakwas was able to get to work again.

"Right then, let's get these stockings off and we can have a proper look at your injuries."

"Heads up LT," Ashley snickered, "Hope you haven't got any embarrassing _briefs_ under there." She emphasised entirely the wrong word, and started cackling. Chakwas walked over and pulled the curtain around her bed, "No fair!" The Gunnery Chief complained.

Shepard managed to tilt her head to look over at Liara, who was staring right back at her. They couldn't say anything, mindful of the rest of the team, but the look in Liara's eyes was more than enough for Shepard. As Chakwas came over to pull the asari's curtain closed Shepard smiled at her, and was rewarded with the briefest grin in return.

"I'm afraid you might all be in here for some time," Chakwas said with a little too much relish as she pulled Shepard's own curtain closed and unzipped the side of the body-stocking.

The doctor was as good as her word, and it was two days before they were allowed to the debriefing room, on strict instructions to keep it short and return to the medical bay as soon as possible. Shepard couldn't even stand as they concluded the debrief, choosing instead to sit and let the mission reports speak for themselves.

Liara had apparently noticed her inattention, "Commander, you look pale, are you suffering any ill effects from the Cipher?"

"It shook me up a bit."

"I might be able to help you, if I join my consciousness with yours again, maybe we can make some sense of it."

Shepard nodded, "Do it, hurry, we don't have much time."

They stood and walked together into the centre of the comm room, and Shepard tried to avoid swaying as she stood in front of the scientist. "Relax Commander, embrace eternity!" Liara's eyes glazed over black and the vision started again. For the first time Shepard tuned it out, not wanting to replay the images again for herself. After several seconds Liara stepped back and the link broke.

"That was incredible. All this time, all my research yet I never, I never dreamed, I am sorry, the images were so vivid. I never imagined the experience would be so, intense, you are remarkably strong willed Shepard, what you have been through, what you have seen would have destroyed a lesser mind."

Kaidan leant forwards, "Did you see anything?"

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged, large parts of the vision are missing, the data transferred into the Commander's mind is incomplete."

Shepard felt her spirits sinking, "You sure you didn't come across any kind of clue or hint, something we might have missed?" She was almost begging now, everything they had been through, and they still had no hints about where Saren was.

"Everything I saw we already know."

"What's our next move?" Kaidan asked, and he sounded almost as down as she felt.

Liara answered while Shepard was still thinking, "Saren must have the missing information, he must have found another beacon. If we find that, we find Saren."

Shepard nodded, "That sounds like a plan. And until then, we've had a message from a Salarian Infiltration Group investigating Saren. It could be they've found something. They might not even realise it, but it could be the missing link." She forced a smile, "It's out best shot, so get ready, until then, dismissed."

As the crew left, looking at least a little reassured, Joker's voice came over the comlink, "I've sent off the Feros report Commander, want me to patch you through to the council?"

She nodded to herself, they didn't have much new information, but it was something at least, "Patch 'em through Joker."

"Setting up the link now Commander."

The holograms flickered on in front of her, "Commander," The asari councillor started without preamble, "Exo-Geni should have told us about the thorian it would have made your job much easier."

"You might have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it." The salarian definitely disapproved.

"The thorian liked to enslave minds, anyone who studied it would have ended up as one of its thralls." She was tired of having to explain her actions to the council. Sometimes she wondered if they would even be happy if she did bring back the creatures, or if she had slaughtered the rachni.

"Perhaps it's for the best then; at least the colony was saved."

"Of course it was saved;" The turian councillor had lost none of his disdain, "Shepard would go to any lengths to help a human colony."

"Being human had nothing to do with it, they were in trouble."

"Admirable," Once more the asari was the voice of reason, "But sometimes SPECTRES have to make sacrifices; I hope you're willing to do that when the time comes."

_I've had to before, and I'll do it again._ "I'm going to be heading to Virmire as soon as possible." She said instead.

"We will be waiting for your next report Commander."

Shepard logged off and rubbed the back of her neck, "Always the same Commander." Joker had been listening in.

"I guess I'm just hoping that one of these reports is going to be the one that makes them sit up and take notice of the problem."

"You really think that's likely?"

She had finished her walk to the end of the room, and now looked up to the camera Joker was watching her through, "No, but I have to keep trying." She was about to open the door, when suddenly she had a thought, "Joker, where's Liara right now?"

When he came back she could tell he was smiling, "Right now she's down in the cargo hold, poking around the lockers."

"Right, thanks."

**AN:-** Next chapter: Liara and Shepard talk dirty.

It always bugged me that your squadmates don't shoot Shiala on sight. She's an asari commando, there is no reason they would assume that she was harmless. So I just made them too exhausted to respond on sight. Also, witness once more my problems in writing enough dialogue for eight people. Taoli basically got shunted off with exhaustion this time round. Also also on Tali, I am intending for her and Chakwas to have a close friendship through this and the second game (which I'm going to novelise as well) and so Chakwas helping her first in the med-bay is just another part of that. I#m trying to keep it subtextual really, but it's also where the joke about Tali/Chakwas from an earlier chapter came from.

I hope everyone likes my description of receiving the Cipher. It almost convinced me to go back and rewrite the initial vision scene. Ashley Williams gets to be a little bit dirty again, which is probably just something I've imagined for the character, but I always like the thought of her as being some sort of dirty old man for the team. On that note the scene in the airlock was originally supposed to be a lot more risque, but I decided to keep it clinical because it emphasised the right dynamic for the team. When it was full of innuendos it felt more like a Michael Bay movie than real comradeship. I'm still not happy with it, but I'm happier.

I'm also assuming that Liara knows Shiala, which is going to be a bit more of an issue later, if not a real issue, then at least discussed, which it wasn't in the game, which I always found just a little annoying.


	25. Chapter 24: Virmire

**AN:-** Alrighty then, time for Virmire. Man, things are getting near to the end now aren't they? Enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Virmire**

Liara was still by the lockers when she reached the cargo bay, examining her armour and weapons. "Anything wrong?" Shepard asked, coming up behind her.

"I was just thinking about things," The asari replied, sounding a little despondent.

"You sound down, is it anything I can help with?"

"I am not sure," The scientist stepped back and forced a smile, "My life has changed so much since I joined your crew, it is still hard for me to adjust sometimes."

"How so?"

Liara reached into her locker and pulled out a shoulder pad, "See this?"

"It's the armour I got for you, what about it? I was going to upgrade everyone soon anyway."

"It is not that, it is that I need it at all." Liara went over to the bulkhead and sat down against it, "When I was researching the Protheans, the most I ever needed was a simple environment suit, enough to keep me protected against harsh weather." She dropped the pad to the floor, "Now I have to worry about bullets, and acid burns, and all sorts of alien creatures attacking me."

"Do you regret joining the crew?"

"Not so much. I have met you, and I had forgotten what it was like having the company of people, and for those people to be friends is even better. But in many ways I miss my old life, and sometimes I feel a little resentment that I was ever taken away from it."

"This is about your mother, isn't it?"

Liara nodded, "I have been talking to Doctor Chakwas about this since Noveria, and still I cannot bring myself to accept that there could not have been another way. Seeing the thorian, and how Shiala was able to break free of its control…"

She trailed off, but Shepard understood, "You think your mother should have been able to break free as well."

"I do not even know if it would be possible, but even though I can see the differences between the two, I cannot make myself believe it."

Shepard moved over so she was sitting right next to Liara, their shoulders pressed together, "Your mother, what was she like?"

"She was strong, she was wise, she was everything an asari matriarch should be."

Shepard shook her head, "No, what was she like as a mother? You keep telling me about her as the other asari saw her, not as you saw her."

"I do not wish to speak ill…" She sighed, "But I suppose you have earned the right to know something about me. My mother bore a great shame, that she had had a pureblood daughter."

"Pureblood?"

"Asari prefer to mate with other species in order to add greater genetic diversity to our species. When an asari has a daughter with another asari, they are called pureblood, and are seen as an eventual genetic dead end."

"Your childhood can't have been pleasant."

"I suppose you could say that. I did not have many friends, and with my status so widely known it was somewhat of a relief to finally leave my home."

Shepard thought there was something else underneath that, "And I guess your mother didn't help you that much?"

"No." Liara pulled her knees in against her chest and pushed her face into them, "She did not."

They sat in silence for a few minutes and Shepard battled with herself. _You can make a nice gesture without it necessarily being driven by your feelings for her. You're her Commander and her friend, it's your duty to keep her morale up and your part in the friendship to keep her happy. Stop being a baby._

She slipped an arm around Liara's shoulders and pulled her close, breathing in deeply and enjoying the warmth of the scientist's body. "You don't have to talk about it; I just want to know more about you, as a person."

"There is not much interesting, even the parts where I have a story to tell, the story is nothing but lonely years spent doing very little."

"I think I could do with a few years doing nothing."

"Maybe when this is all done we will have some."

Liara rolled her head round and their eyes locked for a long moment. The dim light of the bay reflected off the scientist's skin and her head was full of the colour and the warmth and the smell. "Liara…" She began, not sure what she wanted to say.

"We should be resting, letting ourselves heal." There was no conviction in the suggestion.

"When I was given the Cipher, I saw things, not the vision, things about myself. Things I needed to realise so I could learn the Prothean way of thinking."

Liara's voice was very quiet, barely more than breath against her cheek, "It must have been incredible; I cannot imagine anything I would like more than to know those things."

"It showed me things that I've lost, and things that I have, and things that I want to hold onto."

"So what do you want?" The question was innocent, but Shepard's entire body was flushing with blood, and she was very aware of the blood pounding through her arms where they now encircled Liara.

"I want to be able to rest, and I want to be happy again, and I want someone to be happy with."

"That is quite a list."

"I don't know if Chakwas would approve, or if I'm really any more ready than I was." It was very hard to stay logical when Liara's mouth was half an inch from her own, half open and breathing hard. "But I'm better enough to know that I can talk to someone else, if you still want to be let into my head."

"You have all the Prothean knowledge in there now as well. Everything you do seems to be making you more and more… fascinating to me."

Shepard suddenly remembered their first real conversation, how flustered Liara had been to describe her interest. Now it sounded like she knew exactly what she was saying, and her mouth was still so close.

The shift change rang, a long rattle that woke the sleeping crew and signalled to the others that they could return to the pods. Shepard and Liara untangled and stood, taking her shoulder pad back over to the locker and stowing it as the engineers flooded into the cargo bay and boarded the elevator.

"You've certainly given me a lot to think about… Commander." Liara tried for the same tone as before, but it sounded much dirtier without the build-up, and Shepard couldn't resist barking out a short laugh, covering her mouth immediately. Thankfully, Liara had realised as well, and was going her odd shade of dark blue and pink. "I don't think I should try to be enticing."

"You should definitely be enticing more often, just maybe not so, uhm, erotic."

"Interesting definition Commander," Now the asari was back to her precise speech patterns, and Shepard almost found it more alluring, "I shall have to investigate the difference between erotic and enticing, so as to be better prepared for our next confrontation."

She nodded and headed for the elevator, leaving Shepard to lean back against Williams' gun table and let out a long breath, trying to calm her heartbeat. "I love it when you talk dirty to me," She deadpanned to the empty hold, then went to check on her own gear.

Virmire was approaching fast as Shepard's team gathered in the cargo bay. She was up in the cockpit with Joker, running over some final mission briefings.

"Once we're on the ground, try and find the salarian team, but remember to keep an eye on us as well. We don't want something to sneak up on us."

"And if the AA guns I'm picking up start firing on us?"

"Get to ground as fast as you can, Pressly's already scouted out a half dozen places you can land with ease, try and keep your flight pattern over those areas as much as possible."

"Gotcha." He checked one of his computers, "We're coming up on the drop-zone now, you'll wanna get down to the cargo bay."

She nodded and left the cockpit, flexing out the joints of her armour to make sure her latest modifications had settled right. She wouldn't know for sure until she was in combat, but all the tests had come out green. The elevator ride gave her more than enough time prepare mentally for another mission, and by the time she stepped out into the cargo hold she was ready for the drop.

"Alright people, into the mako, we drop in two."

They piled in and Shepard strapped herself into the driving seat. "You know there's still time to change seats Commander," Garrus told her from the gunnery space.

She smiled, driving the mako constantly had at least improved her driving abilities, but every time they got in Garrus still felt a need to comment. The smile vanished as Joker's voice came through the speakers, "Count it down Shepard."

A digital counter appeared on the front screen, counting down from twenty, "Tali, get ready on the thrusters, it's going to be a hard landing, Garrus, Wrex, be ready to engage on sight." Ten seconds, "Hang on people, it's going to be rough."

"Okay, let's take out those AA towers as fast as we can so Joker can land." She shoved the mako forward, and they cleared a corner, the tyres spinning hard as they fought for purchase on the riverbed.

Right around the corner bullets started peppering them long range, followed by a couple of rockets from some drones. Garrus and Wrex opened up as Shepard forced them through at top speed, trying to clear the geth. "Not stopping for sightseeing Commander?" Ashley deadpanned as they flew over an armature.

"No time, and besides, these guys are small-time."

"When did geth become small-time?" Kaidan asked, "We used to find it hard to take down a couple of squads."

"We have places to be." They rounded another corner and had to slow to a stop when they saw a gate closed up ahead of them.

"I'm getting a signal from that gate," Kaidan reported, "We can shut down some of the AA guns from here."

"Garrus, Wrex, stay here and provide covering fire, but try not to blow us up, Ashley, stay and defend the mako, everyone else with me."

She charged up onto the bridge with her squad following her, forcing a couple of the geth back behind cover. Garrus opened up and the resulting explosion brought a chunk of roof right down on the robots. "Nice shot Vakarian," She yelled over the edge of he bridge while Kaidan and Tali went ahead to shut off the towers.

As the gate rumbled open beneath her she linked her comms to Joker, "How's things up there?"

"We've got some fire, but it's avoidable." There was a pause, "Alright, Pressly says one of the towers just went offline. Way to go Commander."

"We'll try and get the rest shut down as soon as." Kaidan and Tali rushed back and she led them down to the mako, "Stay on station."

"Not much else I can do Commander."

She started the mako and gunned forwards again.

The second gate they came to went down just as easily, but the third was defended by two colossus. As Shepard pulled the battered mako into the cover of a rock she craned round to look at her team, "Alright people, I'm open to suggestions."

"Why not just do some of that crazy SPECTRE stuff that gets us out of these situations?" Garrus growled, trying to stem a trickle of blood from where he had smacked his head on the console. "Usually you'd just charge down the tanks single handed and somehow come out okay."

"Well I'm sorry Garrus, but I'm all out of special moves."

"How about just crashing the tank into them," Tali was watching her screens, "You did that one time."

"I can't just go crashing into things when I feel like it."

"Coulda fooled me." Wrex snarked.

"Okay, everyone get ready to attack," She was looking out of the rear screens, "I think I have an idea."

She jammed the mako into reverse and they started to back up the cliff behind them, clearing the rock and giving Garrus an angle, "Tali, thrusters, now!"

They launched off the cliff, the rocks behind them exploding under the combined force of two electrical blasts, Garrus fired again and the mako spun in mid-air, helping them avoid a hail of bullets. They came to a rest on one side, tilting dangerously as the wheels caught again. One of the colossi had dropped off her screens, but the second was still standing.

The mako crashed back onto two wheels, and Garrus wasted no time in firing, taking the thing's head off in a single shot.

"Nice shot Garrus."

"Final AA tower down, bringing us in to land."

"We'll be along soon Joker."

There were more geth between them and the salarian group, but after two colossi the team weren't particularly concerned.

"I am not sure I like this Commander," Liara told her.

"What Liara?"

"There are a lot of geth here, the only reason I can think of is that this place is of some importance to Saren."

"And if this place is important, then whatever he's doing here can't be good."

"That would be correct."

"Of course this place is going to be really important," Ashley leaned back from her seat, "Nowhere we go is simple. Everything has to be about world-saving, or galaxy defence."

"I blame Shepard," Garrus said.

"Of course you do, everyone always does."

"We may have a problem Commander."

"Go ahead Joker." She put him on speaker.

"The salarian captain can explain when you get here."

They could see the camp ahead of them, the Normandy in the river ahead of them. Behind the camp Saren's fortress was buried in amongst the mountains. Shepard pulled them to a stop and let herself out, marching along to the beach to where she could see a salarian leaving a tent.

"Are you in charge here?" She called as she approached, "What's the situation?"

"I'm Captain Kirrahe, third infiltration regiment STG, you and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hot zone, every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence."

_Fantastic. I thought we'd brought them all down, _"What are we supposed to do now?"

"We stay put until the council sends the reinforcements we requested."

"We are the reinforcements."

She didn't know much about salarian facial expressions, but the way he stepped back in surprise was easy enough to gauge, "What! You're all they sent?" He collected himself, "I told the council to send a fleet."

"We couldn't understand your transmission, they sent me to investigate."

"That is a repetition of our task," He sounded irritated, but it could have been to cover up nervousness, "I lost half my men _investigating_ this place."

"So what have you found?" If she couldn't leave, she could at least try to get some information.

"Saren's base of operations." _I knew it, this place couldn't just be some accounting firm._ "He's set up a research facility here, it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

"Is he here," That would at least give them a target, "Have you seen him?"

"No, but his geth are everywhere," _We noticed,_ "And we've intercepted some comms referring to Saren, this is his facility, there's no doubt about that."

"What's Saren researching?"

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan."

_Oh crap, he wouldn't. _She knew he would though, finding the creepers and rachni had shown her exactly how far Saren would go to create an army of disposable warriors, "How is that possible?"

"Apparently Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage."

She remembered her history lessons, even if her codex hadn't started beeping at her. If the genophage was reversed the krogan would be free to breed, and within a generation they would have an army to overturn the galaxy with. And if they had been sterilised once they could be sterilised again. Saren's plan seemed pretty well thought out this time.

"The geth are bad enough, but with a krogan army he'd be almost unstoppable."

"Exactly my thoughts, we must ensure that this facility and its secrets are destroyed."

"Destroyed?" She hadn't noticed Wrex coming up, but now he was pushing past her, "I don't think so, our people are dying, this cure can save them."

"If that cure leaves this planet the krogan will become unstoppable, we can't make the same mistake again." The captain snapped at him.

Wrex shoved a finger in the captain's face, "We are not a mistake!"

"Is he going to be a problem?" Kirrahe asked as Wrex stamped away, "We already have enough angry krogan to deal with."

"He'll be fine," Shepard looked over to where Wrex was drawing his shotgun and blasting the river, "I'll talk to him."

She went over to her squad, who were watching Wrex and the salarians equally warily. "Everyone, I get the feeling that we're going in soon, so try and find any spare supplies the salarians have. I'm going to try and calm Wrex down, we're going to need him."

"Okay, but be careful skipper," Ashley stayed behind as the others moved off, "You don't want to get into a fist fight with a pissed off krogan."

"Thanks for the help Williams," She said drily, "Just don't gun him down unless he's about to kill me."

"You got it."

**AN:-** So I'm sure everyone's wondering, who is Shepard going to choose?

I'm not telling.

And, as promised, Liara and Shepard talk dirty. Basically I wanted to have a little more time with them being insecure, but then I realised that basically they have to be getting intimate very soon. The almost kiss in the game was pretty fun, so I stole it and did it earlier.

I hope everyone's enjoyed reading this story, because I've had a blast writing it.


	26. Chapter 25: Base Breaker

**AN:-** Bit of a longer chapter this time. I'm trying to keep them evenly spaced with action and dialogue. Hopefully another chapter before the end of the day, but I have work early tomorrow and I need sleep.

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Base-Breaker**

"This isn't right Shepard," Wrex lowered his shotgun as she approached, but he didn't put it away, "If there's a cure for the genophage we can't destroy it."

"I understand you're upset," _Nice start Maia, how could you possibly understand what he's going through?_ "But we both know Saren's the enemy here, he's the one you should be angry with."

"Really?" She had known it wouldn't work, but she hadn't expected him to get so suddenly aggressive, "Saren created a cure for my people, you want to destroy it." He raised his shotgun, aiming at her. "Help me out here Shepard, the lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand."

She pulled her own pistol and trained it on his eye. She had no idea what would happen if they fought. She had put down plenty of krogan, but Wrex was far beyond the rank and file they had brought down before, "This isn't a cure, it's a weapon, and if Saren uses it you won't be around to reap the benefits, none of us will."

"That's a chance we should be willing to take, this is the fate of my entire people we're talking about." He stepped forward, and she tensed, her finger itching to curl round the trigger, "I've been loyal to you so far; hell, you did more for me than my family ever did, but if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons."

She forced herself to put her pistol down, "Wrex these krogan are not your people, they're slaves of Saren, tools." She met his gaze, and he looked like he was faltering, "Is that what you want for them?"

The shotgun stayed in place, but he looked away, "No," Underneath his voice was a note of defeat, "We were tools for the council once, and to thank us for wiping out the rachni they neutered us all." The shotgun finally lowered, but instead of looking to her he turned back out to the river,I" doubt Saren will be as generous." He sighed, "Alright Shepard, you've made your point, I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead." She breathed a sigh and was about to leave when he said, "Just one thing," She cocked her head, "When we find Saren," His voice dipped into a deep growl, "I want his head."

She left him without answering, hoping she really was making the right choice.

"Thank you for speaking with the krogan," Kirrahe sounded genuinely relieved as she returned, "The assault on Saren's base will be difficult enough as it is."

_I knew they must have had some plan. _"I assume that means you've come up with a plan?

"Of sorts, we can convert our ships drive system into a 20 kiloton ordinance, crude but effective."

"Nice," Ashley was next to her, and she saw Kaidan on her other side, "Drop that nuke from orbit, and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye."

There was a long pause before Kirrahe spoke, and Shepard knew what was coming next, "Unfortunately the facility is too well fortified for that," _Of course,_ "We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location."

She swallowed her concerns, "Where do we take the nuke and how do we get there?"

"The bomb must be taken to the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns and pacify any ground forces first."

"You want us to go in on foot?" Kaidan sounded like he couldn't quite believe it, "We don't have enough men."

"It does sound a bit risky," Ashley and Kaidan both raised an eyebrow at her response, "Is there no other way?"

"No, but I think we can work around that," He started to pace, "I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility, while we've got their attention your can sneak your 'shadow' team in the back."

She had more than enough tactical experience to know what that meant, "It's a good idea but your people are going to get slaughtered."

He pulled himself up proudly, "We're tougher than we look Commander," He sagged again, "But it's true, I don't expect many of us will make it out alive, and that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult," She knew what was coming, "I'm going to need one of your men to accompany me, to help coordinate the teams."

She tried to keep it professional, as if she wasn't about to choose one of her men to go on a probable suicide mission, "We'll need someone who knows Alliance communication protocols."

Kaidan stepped forward immediately, "I volunteer Commander."

"Not so fast LT," Ashley stepped onto her other side, "Commander Shepard will need you to arm the nuke, I'll go with the salarians."

"With all due respect Gunnery Chief it's not your place to decide." Even to her Kaidan sounded patronising.

Thankfully she didn't have to say anything, Ashley had it covered. "Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean kiss my ass?"

"Who would be better suited to the mission?" She asked Kirrahe.

"Either of these two will do Commander, both of them seem willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary," _That's really what I want you to focus on._ "Though if we are lucky such sacrifices won't be required."

She stepped back, took a breath and looked from one to the other, then nodded to Kaidan, "Alenko you're with the captain, keep it simple, understood?"

"Aye aye Commander."

"I must make preparations," Kirrahe nodded to her, "When we're ready, I'll inform you."

Shepard nodded to him and turned back to Kaidan and Ashley, "There is no reason for this to be a suicide mission," She told him, "Stay smart, stay under cover, and help the salarians in any way you can."

"Okay Commander, and," He paused, "It's been an honour serving under you Commander."

"Why so serious LT?" Ashley thumped him on the shoulder, "We're gonna make it through this, then on to Saren."

"Alright," He still sounded pensive, "But still, good luck everyone. I'm gonna go meet the salarians, try and step into the command role."

"Ashley, do you want to go talk to anyone?" Shepard tried to be subtle, and thankfully Ashley got it.

"I'll see you in five, Commander, LT," She shook Kaidan's hand and left them together on the beach.

"Look, Lieutenant, I wasn't quite expecting this to happen so quickly, but I did have some things I wanted to say to you."

"Shoot Commander."

"I've seen the makings of command in you. You know how to talk to people, when to listen and how to take suggestions. You know tactics and your control over your biotics has been incredible since we first started working together."

"This is all very flattering Commander but I don't quite see where you're going."

"It's hard being a Commander. You have to know when to send people into situations you know might not work out right; you have to be prepared to make sacrifices. And one of the sacrifices you have to make is letting younger officers out from under you."

"You've hardly been holding me back Commander."

"But if you're going to become the best Commander you can, then you have to start taking on new challenges." She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, "You can make it through this, and then we'll have to see about promoting you."

Joker looked up as the airlock cycled open, "Hey?"

Ashley stepped round the corner, smiling a little nervously. "It's me."

"Is there a mission? What's going on out there?"

"Shepard can explain things later; right now I just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"How about us?"

"You want to talk about us?"

"Well, long story short this mission could be a one way trip, and I just want to make sure that I take advantage of everything I can." She stepped right up to him and knelt down next to the chair, "You're funny, and you're smart, and if you shaved that stubble you'd look pretty handsome, and I think that maybe we could go somewhere if we weren't spending all our time trying to find Saren." She realised she was babbling and stopped.

"That's a whole lot of things I am." He was grinning like a loon, "Hey, look, how about when we're off Virmire, I show you how well I can cook."

"That sounds fantastic, but how about this for now?" She kissed him on the lips. "Don't forget me while we're rushing into this base to plant a nuke at the very centre."

"I really hope that Shepard explains the plan better than you do, because you make it sound like suicide."

She tried to keep the smile on her face, but couldn't quite manage it, "I've got Shepard backing me up, feel bad for the LT, he's only got the salarians to back him up."

"Okay, stop and explain."

Shepard gathered her team and explained the plan while Kirrahe was doing the same to his groups. Finally they all convened in front of the main tent, and Kirrahe stepped forward to address his men.

"You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life - but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers! Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"

Finished, he turned back to Shepard. "Good luck commander, I hope we will meet again."

Shepard and her team slid down the side of a mountain to find themselves in a valley, structures ahead of them and geth stalking around the rocks.

"Testing communications."

It was Kirrahe, "Everything's fine on my end."

"Very good, we'll begin our push now."

She turned to her team, "Keep it close, and keep radio silence."

Wrex and Ashley went first, rifles ready, and checked out both side of a fork in the valley. Wrex held up a hand and pumped it twice, Williams three times. "Garrus, you take left, I'll take right. Twenty second wait" She went up next to Williams and pulled out her sniper rifle.

Fifteen seconds later their rifles cracked in unison, firing a second round immediately after. Shepard sighted on the final geth and dropped it before it had even turned to notice its fallen comrades. "Nice shooting Commander," Ashley stood and jumped over her rock, heading to the end of the fork.

The rest of the team moved up, and Garrus rejoined her as Wrex scouted out his side of the fork. After a second the two came back, "It all rejoins at the other end there," Ashley reported, "But there's a conning tower and a whole platoon of geth on station.

"Brilliant, just what we needed."

The radio crackled and some chatter from the salarians came through, Shepard listened in and reported back to her team, "Looks like the geth have some sort of communications outpost triangulating their signals. I think we might have just found it."

"Let's bring it down, give Kirrahe and Alenko some help," Tali was already programming her omni-tool.

They carried on through the valley, Shepard and Garrus bringing down the infrequent geth patrols with ease. They had come across another outpost with a geth satellite uplink on top of it, but Liara had been able to wrench the whole thing off the roof with a single biotic tug.

Finally they reached the base, their approach along a tight walkway, and the opposition finally picked up. With no room to manoeuvre Williams and Wrex took heavy punishment out front while the others hung back to try and pick off the worst of the fire, but it was heavy going, and both the soldiers were getting exhausted.

"Garrus, switch out with Ashley, Liara, try and keep Wrex's shields bolstered," Shepard handed Ashley some medigel as the Chief came back, when the radio started chattering again.

"Geth flyers returning to our position," She told them, "If we can destroy them it'll be a little more heat off the salarians." They rushed forwards to where Wrex had scouted out a fuel tank and with a couple of carefully placed grenades the whole lot went sky-high, taking an entire fleet of drones with it.

"This is far too easy," Tali was in the middle of controlling a geth, making it shoot down its own comrades. "Saren must have more defences than this."

"There's no way he would have expected an assault on this base," Shepard reasoned as she took down some of the krogan mercenaries who were charging their position, "And Kirrahe's squads must be taking a pounding out the front.

The reminded them all of the necessity of speed, and they picked up the pace, sprinting to some sort of storage warehouse, where they were met with salarians who opened fire on them.

"Commander?" Wrex growled as he shoved them all behind cover.

Shepard considered, Saren had mind control, and they didn't have time for non-lethal takedowns. "We can't help these salarians now, kill them as quickly as you can, and make sure they're dead. We can at least give them a little diginity."

Finally they stood outside the main entrance to Saren's facility, Tali opening up some of the security panels. "Alright, we have alarms all over the base. I can trigger them round the front and draw some of the fire away from us, but it might be more than the salarians can handle."

"Opinions?"

"We can take heavy fire," Wrex growled, "Let them bring it on."

"I agree with Wrex," Garrus was switching to his assault rifle, "We have more than enough firepower to take whatever security's here."

"Wouldn't be fair on the Lieutenant," Ashley told her.

"Surely there can't be that many geth guarding the rear of the facility anyway?"

"Alright Tali, just cut the alarms, we don't want to send any more enemies to the front."

The quarian stepped back, "Done."

"Let's move people, the sooner we can get into the facility the better."

They rushed through the facility at top speed, letting Wrex lead the way. There were geth everywhere, and more salarians. Thankfully, with the communications all disrupted the geth were no challenge, and the salarians were so indoctrinated they could barely even hold their pistols.

There was only one surprise, a salarian in a cell who claimed to be able to think, and wanted a chance to get some payback before the nuke went off. The second she opened the cell door though, he charged her and tried to strangle her. Ashley slammed her rifle over his head and he dropped to the floor, where she was able to put a triple burst into his head.

"I guess the indoctrination really can't be broken." She sounded a little down about it.

"Anymore, we leave them in their cells." Shepard stood and massaged her throat, "It's safer, and the nuke will kill them painlessly enough."

"Yes ma'am."

They left the cells and found an office with an elevator. Inside the elevator they took a moment to check their weapons.

"What the hell is Saren doing here?" Garrus asked her.

She shook her head, "I don't know. It's more than just the genophage though. Maybe he's investigating ways to control the krogan once he's got them. Or it could even be Sovereign."

"That would make sense," Liara was nodding, "He could be scared that he is being controlled by the ship as well as the people he commands."

Before they could discuss it further the elevator opened and revealed a lab with husks in containment fields and a krogan wearing a huge lab coat. "Who are you?"

"Commander Shepard, SPECTRE. We're shutting this lab down, and if you don't want to be killed, then you'll surrender instead of fighting us."

"Nice try," He slammed a button, "But with all these husks?"

"We will still destroy you," Wrex charged forwards with a roar and slammed the other krogan through a bank of computers.

"Take the husks!" Shepard opened fire and dropped one of them immediately. An asari scientist stepped from behind a table, glowing with biotics, and drew back a hand, but Liara was between her and Shepard in a moment, throwing her own attack out. The singularity folded the enemy in half, then continued to crush her further and further in. Shepard cringed and turned to shoot down the husks.

Wrex was pounding his fists into what was left of the krogan scientist's head into the computer fragments. "We will not be tools again," He was growling.

"Working out some issues?" Ashley snarked, and he looked up with a snarl, but then calmed himself.

"It is a sore point." He admitted, pulling his rifle back into his hands, "Let's move on."

They came out of the lab and out onto a walkway. There were only two ways to go at the end, and the bridge was up. Tali got to work on the door, and opened it up to reveal a bare room with an asari cowering behind a desk on the far end.

"Don't shoot," She was practically crying in fear, "Please, I just wanna get out of here before it's too late."

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Shepard put her pistol away and motioned for theothers to do the same, "Who are you?"

"Rana Thanoptis, neuro-specialist," She pulled herself up, looking a little more collected, "But this job isn't worth dying over, or worse, you think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later Saren will wanna dissect my brain too."

"I thought this was a breeding facility."

"Not this level, we're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible."

_He does seem to do that, _"You helped him and you do not even know why?" Liara sounded shocked.

"I didn't have the option of negotiating, this position is a little more permanent than I expected, but I can help you!" She stepped over to the big doors at the back of the room, "This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab, I can get you in, see, full access, all of Saren's private files, are we good, can I go?"

Shepard couldn't shoot her in cold blood, but then again that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun, "I'm gonna blow this place to hell and gone, if you wanna make it out alive, you'd better start running."

"What!" The asari's mouth dropped, "You can't, but I'll never!" She sprinted past them, not wasting any more time.

"I believe you enjoyed that Shepard." Liara said in her ear.

"You're damn right I did. Let's go people."

**AN:-** I like Rana Thanoptis. And I needed an actual excuse for why you can slaughter the indoctrinated without penalty. There was never really a reason given, so I added one. It seemed to make sense. Also, we got to see Wrex beating up another krogan. Unfortunately that was about all I could ever think of having him do in this story. Getting violent and beating up other krogan who would be a challenge for the team.

I didn't want to spend too much time with the Virmire mission, but I did want to include things like Kirrahe's speech.

Who's it gonna be?

I'm still not telling.

Til next chapter.


	27. Chapter 26: Because We Demand It

**AN:-** Well. Here we are.

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Because We Demand It**

"Garrus, Wrex, Ashley, you stay here and guard our escape, Tali, Liara, come with me."

The three stepped into the elevator and watched as the soldiers took up their positions in the office.

They walked out to see a room, constructed entirely from steel and heavy metals. It felt oppressive, and not quite natural. Something in the angles was wrong, and there was a deep humming from machinery she couldn't even see.

"There's another beacon," Tali said, her voice sounding impossibly loud in the small room.

Shepard walked down alone and faced the beacon, stepping up to it and staring, wondering how she was going to get it to work. Even as she was about to reach out it lit up and she felt something grab her, just as it had on Eden Prime. She closed her eyes and let the images wash over her, trying to keep the ideas of the Cipher in her head as well. It was nowhere near as bad as before, and behind everything she kept the distinctive warmth and smells, and her mind stayed clear throughout.

Dropping down she walked up to join her team, and together they walked to the end of the walkway in the centre of the room, where a computer was flashing lightly.

"I get the feeling something bad is about to happen," Liara said rather unnecessarily. The oppressive architecture was not the only reason for unease now. Something was bearing down on them, and Shepard could even feel her thoughts becoming muddy.

YOU ARE NOT SAREN

A red image had appeared above the computer, "What is that," Liara asked, "Some kind of VI interface?"

RUDIMENTARY CREATURES OF BLOOD AND FLESH, YOU TOUCH MY MIND, FUMBLING IN IGNORANCE, INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING.

"I do not think this is a VI."

_No duh._ Shepard took a breath and leaned back as it spoke again.

THERE IS A REALM OF EXISTENCE SO FAR BEYOND YOUR OWN YOU CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE IT. I AM BEYOND YOUR COMREHENSION. I AM SOVEREIGN.

"Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found, it's an actual Reaper." It suddenly made sense, and it explained everything, the mind control at the facility, the muddy thoughts, everything.

REAPER, A LABEL CREATED BY THE PROTHEANS TO GIVE VOICE TO THEIR DESTRUCTION. IN THE END, WHAT THEY CHOSE TO CALL US IS IRRELEVANT, WE SIMPLY, ARE.

"The Protheans vanished 50000 years ago," Liara stepped forwards, forgetting that they might be in danger, "You could not have been there it's impossible."

ORGANIC LIFE IS NOTHING BUT A GENETIC MUTATION, AN ACCIDENT. YOUR LIVES ARE MEASURED IN YEARS AND DECADES. YOU WITHER AND DIE. BUT WE ARE ETERNAL, THE PINNACLE OF EVOLUTION AND EXISTENCE. BEFORE US YOU ARE NOTHING. YOUR EXTINCTION IS INEVITABLE, WE ARE THE END OF EVERYTHING.

_Time to let this thing know what's going on._ "An entire galaxy of races united and ready to face you." She said, pulling Liara back.

CONFIDENCE BORN OF IGNORANCE, THE CYCLE CANNOT BE BROKEN.

That threw her, "Cycle, what cycle?"

THE PATTERN HAS REPEATED ITSELF MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN FATHOM. ORGANIC CIVILISATIONS RISE, EVOLVE, ADVANCE; AND THEN, AT THE APEX OF THEIR GLORY, THEY ARE EXTINGUISHED. THE PROTHEANS WERE NOT THE FIRST, THEY DID NOT CREATE THE CITADEL, THEY DID NOT FORGE THE MASS RELAYS. THEY MERELY FOUND THEM, THE LEGACY OF MY KIND.

She remembered Liara, telling her months ago, about how she had found that there had been other civilisations before the Protheans. She hadn't even thought about it after that first meeting, but now she was facing some evidence, and it was pretty compelling, "Why would you construct the mass relays then leave them for someone else to find?"

YOUR CIVILISATION IS BASED ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE MASS RELAYS, OUR TECHNOLOGY. BY USING IT YOUR SOCIETY DEVELOPS ALONG THE PATHS WE DESIRE. WE IMPOSE ORDER ON THE CHAOS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. YOU EXIST BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT, AND YOU WILL END, BECAUSE WE DEMAND IT.

Liara gasped, and her hand found Shepard's, "They are harvesting us letting us advance to the level they need then wiping us out."

"What do you want from us slaves, resources?"

MY KIND TRANSCENDS YOUR VERY UNDERSTANDING. WE ARE EACH A NATION, INDPENDENT, FREE OF ALL WEAKNESS. YOU CANNOT EVEN GRASP THE NATURE OF OUR EXISTENCE.

Tali stepped behind her, and the contact made her feel better, "Where did you come from? Who built you?"

WE HAVE NO BEGINNING, WE HAVE NO END. WE ARE INFINITE, MILLIONS OF YEARS AFTER YOUR CIVILISATION HAS BEEN ERADICATED AND FORGOTTEN, WE WILL ENDURE.

"Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are you the last of your kind?"

WE ARE LEGION, THE TIME OF OUR RETURN IS COMING; OUR NUMBERS WILL DARKEN THE SKY OF EVERY WORLD. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR DOOM.

_Time for some false bravado, _"You're not even alive not really, you're just a machine, and machines can be broken."

YOUR WORDS ARE AS EMPTY AS YOUR FUTURE. I AM THE VANGUARD OF YOUR DESTRUCTION. THIS EXCHANGE IS OVER.

The entire room shook, and the glass of the office exploded inwards, covering them. Liara grabbed for her and she hung on, slipping her other arm around Tali. They all hung on until the shaking had stopped, and Shepard suddenly realised that her earpiece was buzzing.

"Commander we got trouble."

"What is it Joker?" She shook Tali and Liara off, marching for the elevator.

"That ship Sovereign, it's moving," _Oh crap._ "I don't know what you did down there but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half, it's coming your way."

"Move!" She yelled at her team.

Back in the lower office Garrus nodded to her, "We've managed to get the bridge down, time to go."

"You heard about Sovereign," She was jogging for the door, her pistol out and read.

"We heard, the explosion tipped us off a little as well. What was up there?"

"We just spoke to Sovereign. It's a Reaper, and apparently it's going to bring the Reapers back."

"How come it never goes smooth?" Ashley asked, skidding to a halt just outside the door as the opened up on a couple of krogan racing over the bridge.

"Because apparently the universe hates us."

They were over the bridge and running hard through a series of outer walkways. Ahead of them was an open space where water was running out of a generator and into the sea. "Joker, be prepared to bring the Normandy in, on my signal."

"You got it Commander."

There were geth in the courtyard, but they dropped easily, and in moments Shepard was radioing for the bomb. She could hear the sounds of the battle, far away by the AA tower, but at least it was down, and with any luck they were going to be away before the situation got any further our of hand.

"Bomb is in position," Ashley walked up to her, "We're all set here."

"Commander do you read me?" It was Kaidan.

"The nuke is almost ready Lieutenant, get to the rendezvous point."

"Negative Commander," _Don't say negative, never say negative._ "The geth have us pinned down on the AA tower, we've taken heavy casualties. We'll never make the rendezvous point in time."

She raced to where she could see Joker in the Normandy and radioed the cockpit, waving at her pilot, "Get them out of there Joker now!"

Kaidan was back, "Negative, it's too hot. We'll hold them off as long as..." His communication broke off into static.

"It's okay Commander," Ashley was still at her side, "I need a couple minutes to finish arming the nuke, go get them and meet me back here."

She turned back to her team, "Up to the AA tower, move!"

They rushed through a generator area, practically punching the enemies out of the way, and piled into an elevator. "We have to make it." Liara said anxiously.

"It'll be fine," Garrus said, but he hardly sounded sure, "We'll pull the salarians out of the fire, Joker picks us up and we all swing by the nuke, Saren'll be eating radiation before he knows we're gone."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

The elevator seemed to be taking forever, and Shepard slammed impotently on the control panel, "Tali, can you do anything to this?"

"I've been trying," The quarian was hunched by the door, her omni-tool open, "But there are safety features even I cannot bypass."

The door finally opened and they rushed out, only to see a geth ship flying in behind them.

"It appears the geth have sent reinforcements." Liara sounded defeated already.

Garrus was on the radio, "Chief, we just spotted a troop ship inbound to your location."

"It's already here, and it's bleeding geth all over the bomb site!"

"Can you hold them off?" Shepard took over.

"There's too many, I don't think we can hold them," There was a pause, "I'm activating the nuke."

_No!_

"What are you doing Chief?" Shepard fought to keep her voice level. Everyone could hear the communication, and after the message came through they all looked up, shocked.

"Making sure this bomb goes off no matter what." Another pause, and Shepard wished she could have been there to stop her, "It's done commander, go get the Lieutenant and get the hell out of here."

"Joker? Can you pick one of the two up?"

"The AA guns are back online Commander," Joker sounded just as tense, "I've got one trip, or we're going to be shot down."

"Williams, can you reach us?"

"Negative," There was definite pain in her voice, "I'm the only one left, I can hold them, but if I go then there's every chance they could disarm the nuke. Get to the Lieutenant."

"Belay that," Kaidan was back, "We can handle ourselves, go back and get Williams."

"Commander…" It was Joker, but he couldn't finish the request.

"I understand Joker." She stepped over to look at the AA tower, where battle was raging, then turned back to look at the elevator, where she could hear gunfire and the crackle of geth exploding.

_What do I do?_

**AN:-** Just a short update.

And also...

Mwua! HA! HAA!

Sorry, but I couldn't resist leaving this hanging. partly it's so that I could update more for you, but also because when I rearrange things I intend to leave this as cliff-hanger chapter anyway, so I thought I'd get ahead on things.

So, who do you think it's going to be? Vote in the reviews! Just kidding, I've already played far past this point, so there's no way to change it now.


	28. Chapter 27: Sacrifice

**Chapter Twenty-Six: The Sacrifice**

"Williams, radio Joker and tell him to meet us at the bomb site."

She said it as quickly as possible; getting the order out before she had a chance to regret it. There was a moment when her team stared at her and the comm fizzled.

"Yes Commander," Came Ashley's voice, "I…"

"It's the right choice, and you know it Ash."

"I'm sorry Kaidan," She had to say something to him; "I had to make a choice."

"I understand Commander, I don't regret a thing."

She shut down the link and turned on her heel, marching back towards the elevator. She could feel tears gathering at the edges of her eyes and brushed them away impatiently. Her team filed back in in silence and she got one last look at the AA tower as the doors slid shut. The lurch in her stomach as the elevator started down had nothing to do with inertia.

The second they stepped out of the door gunfire hit them and they had to charge straight back into the fight. There was no time for second guessing as they passed the massive power generators, using them for cover against both geth and krogan which attacked their position. The ankle deep water made the going a slog and Shepard was convinced that the gunfire by the nuke had stopped.

They slammed the door open to see a dead marine slumped in the pitiful cover the door had given him. All around the nuke her ground teams were dead, but there was one soldier left, leaned right up against the nuke and clutching her stomach.

"Keep her alive!" Shepard yelled, charging off alone to finish the geth that were filling the courtyard with bullets. They were so confident in their victory that they weren't even staying in cover, only advancing slowly on the bomb. It was simple pickings for Shepard to bring them down and rush back to Ashley.

"How is she?" She yelled as she ran, her heart sinking when Liara looked back and shook her head. Shepard put on a burst of speed, but there was a roaring behind her and suddenly something slammed into her back. She rolled and came up with her pistol trained on the new assailant, a turian on a flying platform.

_Oh._

_Shit._

She raced for cover, the rest of her team carrying Ashley away from the bomb. Shoving the marine's body aside Shepard took his cover just inside the door, and thankfully it was enough to deflect another explosive blast from Saren. She stepped out and fired a few rounds, but they all impacted his kinetic barrier.

"I applaud you Shepard," She ducked back into cover, "My geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat, an impressive diversion. Of course it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

"Why are you doing this?" She didn't even have the energy to be defiant anymore. It was all in vain if they couldn't even get away.

"You've seen the vision from the beacon Shepard you of all people should understand what the Reapers are capable of. Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

"Do you really believe the Reapers will let us live?" _It's kind of there in the name. They reap._

"Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council." He sounded like he genuinely wanted to have the conversation, "We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic, we will fight even when we know we cannot win, but if we worked with the Reapers, if we make ourselves useful, think how many lives could be spared." _He believes this_, She realised, _He honestly thinks it's true._ "Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the dangers, I had hoped this facility could protect me."

She remembered what Liara had guessed in the elevator on the way to his office, "You're afraid Sovereign is influencing you, you're afraid he's controlling your thoughts."

"That was a concern, but this facility has shown me that the greater control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. For me to complete my tasks I require a greater level of capability than others, which is why I believe my mind to be my own."

She couldn't believe he had fallen into the trap. Benezia had been competent, and she had been entirely taken over by the ship. "Sovereign's manipulating you and you don't even know it!" She yelled, leaning out again to try and make eye contact without giving him a target, "You're already under its power."

"No!" He rubbed his face with his hands and paced about, "Sovereign needs me, if I find the Conduit I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable, this is my only hope." He stopped pacing.

"Together we can stop Sovereign," She tried again while he seemed to be preoccupied, "We don't have to submit to the Reapers, we can beat them!"

"I no longer believe that Shepard," He didn't sound as confident, but he sounded determined, resigned to his choice, "The visions cannot be denied, the Reapers are too powerful." He raised a hand to her, "The only way to survive is to join with them. Sovereign is a machine, it thinks like a machine, if I can prove my value, I become a resource worth maintaining, there is no other logical conclusion."

"You were a SPECTRE!" She yelled, "You were sworn to defend the galaxy and you broke that vow to save yourself!"

That provoked a real reaction, "I'm not doing this for myself! Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed, it is inevitable, my way is the only way any of us will survive, I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers, between organics and machines. And in doing so I will save more lives than have ever existed. But you would undo my work," He drew his pistol, _Uh oh,_ "You will doom our entire civilisation to complete annihilation; and for that you must die."

He opened fire on her position, the door giving her enough cover that none of the rounds hit. She popped out to let off a few return shots but he was far too well shielded. Thankfully, he was concentrating so hard on her he didn't even notice her squad, who had all managed to get into position. They opened fire as one, and his shields fizzled out, bullets impacting on his armour and forcing him to flee to his hover-platform

Shepard charged over to Ashley, one hand on her radio, "Joker, we need pick up now, this bomb's going off any second."

"Roger Commander."

Ashley was bleeding heavily, one arm clamped over her stomach, the other hanging limp. Her armour was a mess of bullet holes and her shields had reached the point where they couldn't even recharge. Shepard grasped the Chief's shoulder briefly, then caught her round the knees, nodding to Garrus, who got his hands under her shoulders and together they lifted her off the floor.

"Ship's coming," Wrex grunted, still firing at the incoming geth.

Shepard looked round to see the Normandy sweeping low over the terrain, coming in with the cargo bay already open, Joker somehow managing to keep control of the ship as the winds battered him from every side. "Let's go!" She yelled, leading the way as Ashley went limp in her grip. "We're out of time."

She was radioing Joker before they were all on board, "Get us the hell out of here!"

"Yes ma'am."

Wrex leaped up and heaved himself into the cargo bay, leaving Tali free to close the bay doors as Shepard rushed to the elevator. When she reached it Chakwas and the medical team were already racing out, Chakwas tried to hold her back but she shoved right past and slapped the control panel. "Joker, what's our situation?"

"We're about to hit atmo."

"The salarians?"

There was a long pause, long enough that by the time he came back she was marching past the CIC, "They're completely surrounded, it doesn't look good."

"And the nuke?" She practically ran into the cockpit, pulling her armour pads off and realising they were slicked with blood.

Joker didn't respond, leaning over to the intercom and switching it on, "Everybody brace for impact." He said dully.

Shepard's head whipped round to the viewscreen, the ship rotating slightly as they pulled through the atmosphere. Beneath her a digital timer hit zero, and a light appeared on the planet beneath her.

_Kaidan._

She forced herself to watch as the explosion expanded further, pushing the clouds away. They were too far away to see the damage done to the facility, but Shepard couldn't see how anything would survive. She closed her eyes and felt tears forming. Angrily she brushed them away and turned back to Joker, who was staring at her.

"Send a situation report; include details on everything we found, especially the cure for the genophage. I want the Council preparing a fleet, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Yes ma'am, uh," He turned back to his console, but was glancing back at her, "You might want to go see the doctor."

"What is it Joker?" She could barely even feel her body.

"You've been shot, like, a lot." He was trying too hard. She put a hand on his shoulder, and felt him shaking a little.

"I can handle being shot. How about you though?"

"It's, I don't want to." He looked back at her, "I wouldn't want to make the choices you make Shepard."

"Just send the report Joker."

"Ma'am."

On her way to the medical bay she felt the eyes of her crew on her, and wondered just how bad she looked. She had left her torso plates in the cockpit, and after a single glance at her hands had decided to stop looking down. Pressly looked like he was going to talk to her, but one look at her and he turned back to his console.

Chakwas glared at her when she came through the door, but after seeing her injuries concern took over and she helped Shepard into a bed. Ashley was in the next one over, completely under and being attended to by a couple of medical professionals.

"Where are the others?" She asked as Chakwas finished pulling off her armour.

"Still down in the cargo bay with the rest of my team. Williams needed immediate attention, and so do you."

"I'm not that bad." She felt bone tired, yes, but there was no pain.

She relaxed back as a scanner was run over her body, and tried to turn her head to see Ashley, but Chakwas held her in place. "Multiple gunshot wounds, hairline fracture of the right arm, compound fracture of the left ankle, soft tissue damage all over your body, pulled muscles all over your back, shrapnel lodged in your shoulder, glass in your face, a twisted wrist and several torn ligaments." The doctor gave her a stern look, "Would you call that bad?"

"How's Ashley?"

"Not good," Chakwas pressed a syringe gun against her arm and injected some anaesthetic. "But you're going to require quite some work."

The medical bay spiralled above her and faded out.

She came to still staring at the ceiling. "Ow," She croaked, her throat scratching as she spoke.

"Hey Commander," Garrus was in a chair next to her, "How you doing?"

"Not good," She tried to push herself up and he had to push her back down, "How's everyone?"

"Wrex is already taking stock of our weapons, Tali is back in engineering, and I'm on the mend. Liara and I have been taking it in turns to keep an eye on you. She's asleep now." He leaned back and she could tell it was bad news, "Williams is still out, and Chakwas isn't sure about how she's going to do."

"What?"

"Some of the damage was pretty severe. She's not under sedation anymore, she could wake up, but she doesn't."

Shepard wished she could sink back further, and settled for rocking her head back and forth. "How's the crew taking things?"

"They're pretty low on morale right now. Everyone liked the Lieutenant."

"Yeah," She nodded, "I know."

"Do you want to debrief?"

"Not yet," She waved at him, "Help me up." He got both under her back and got her sitting up, "I want to talk to the crew first, get a sense of where everyone is." She rubbed her eyes, "We need some time to recover, get used to the loss."

He stood and looked down at her, "I don't know the cultures of your people, but among the turians, it is not so much a time of grieving when a comrade dies. Instead, we remember their contributions, and the honour they bestowed upon themselves." He paused and looked uncomfortable, "I would not have had it the way it happened, but if it had to, it is good that the Lieutenant died, protecting his crew, knowing his sacrifice would achieve a final victory."

"Thank you Garrus." She rested a hand across her stomach, where thick bandages padded out the gown she had been covered with. "You can go; I think I'll be okay for a little while."

"Should I wake Liara?"

"No," She wondered just how much he had managed to guess. "She must be exhausted, let her sleep, but leave a message or something for when she wakes up."

He nodded, saluted, and left her alone. Once the door had cycled closed she looked over to the other bed, "Okay Ashley, I know you're capable under there." The Chief's breathing hitched momentarily, giving her away. "Don't make me order you."

"Aye aye ma'am." She didn't move, but Shepard saw her eyes open.

"Talk to me Chief."

"I, I can't believe Kaidan didn't make it," She sounded close to tears, but also utterly exhausted, "How could we just leave him down there?"

"It wasn't we Ashley, it was me. I made the choice, I had to."

"But it's not fair!"

"Alenko knew the risks going in; he gave his life to save the rest of us."

"It should have been me Commander, you know that."

"It wasn't your call Williams," She couldn't help it, the woman's attitude was pushing her last nerve, "I had to choose, I chose you."

"I'm," She tried to control herself, "I'm sorry Commander," She didn't sound it, "You saved my life, I'm grateful for that, but it should have been me. Alenko was a superior officer," Her voice rose in anger, "I would have gladly stayed behind!"

"Ash how far are you gonna drive yourself? Are you trying to be a martyr, to redeem your grandfather's honour?" She forced herself to lower her voice, "What the public and the military did to him was unfair, but I don't wanna lose a good soldier over it."

It didn't work, "You did lose a good soldier though, and one who could have been a good commander, but instead you chose me. The public failure, the one who no one wants."

"We want you," Shepard reminded her, "You're a good soldier, and a good person, and if I had to make that choice I'd make it again. Kaidan would have too, and if you want to be more than the failure, if you want to be the commander your grandfather must have been then you'd make it too."

That provoked something, and it felt stupid to have so much anger flowing round without being able to move to release it, "You're saying that I don't measure up?"

"To your grandfather? Not in the slightest. He was a brave man, who knew the risks involved in an operation, and he made the toughest choice any commander can make. He chose the safety of his men over himself. I couldn't even make that choice today, I had to choose between two people, and I made the choice I thought was right."

Ashley managed to turn her head, and the look she gave Shepard scared the Commander more than a hundred geth. "What the fuck do you know?"

"I know command, and I know people, and I know you." Shepard met her eyes levelly, "Dying for nothing, dying for something, you're still dead, what matters is what comes afterwards, and what people do with the sacrifice that was made. Your grandfather sacrificed his honour, and the right people went on to make his choice count. Kaidan sacrificed his life. It's up to us to make sure it counts."

The silence held for a long time, and in the dim light Shepard realised that Ashley had tears in her eyes. Finally the Chief turned away, "Aye aye Commander."

Shepard was out before Ashley, on crutches and with more surgical tape covering her than exposed skin. The first thing she did was to go and find Liara, who was down in the cargo bay at Ashley's station, learning how to field strip the weapons. Garrus was teaching her, and even Wrex was hanging around to make sure she got the shotguns right.

"Hey guys, could you give us a moment?" Shepard asked, hiking herself over.

"Pretty informal there Commander." Garrus chuckled.

Shepard returned the smile, "According to Chakwas I'm not in command until she says so, so I thought I could drop the whip for a few days."

"I've got to go calibrate the mako anyway," Garrus nodded to them and left. Wrex grunted something they couldn't quite make out and stumped off.

"It is good to see you up Shepard.

"Remember, it's Maia, I'm not commanding right now."

"Maia, it is good you are okay."

Shepard leaned against the table, "It's good to get out of the med bay I can tell you."

"You seem to be happy."

"If I'm not happy, then I'm reminded that I had to leave someone behind," Admitting it brought tears back to her eyes.

Liara hugged her, and for the first time Shepard didn't care about anyone seeing them getting close. "Thank you," She mumbled into the asari's shoulder.

"You are not commanding right now, so I think I am allowed to do things like that."

"Absolutely," Shepard hugged her back, trying to disentangle herself from the crutches and failing. "But I do have some important business to get out of the way."

"What is it?"

"You need to join our minds. We need to know what Saren's up to."

**AN:-** Not happy with this chapter. But it sort of says what I want to say.

Given my development of Ashley and Shepard's antagonistic relationship I thought there should be more between them than Ashley's easy acquiescence. Also, Liara and Shepard having a moment. I imagine that Shepard spent at least two days in intensive care, maybe three. Combined with space-age medicine, that seemed about right, ish.

I decided also that instead of having the whole aftermath happen in the briefing it should happen outside. They will still have the briefing.

Goodbye Kaidan.


	29. Chapter 28: Locked In

**AN:-**We're almost there now aren't we? Time to return to the crew, and let them have some time.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Locked In**

They went to Shepard's quarters so she could rest on the bed while Liara joined them. Several seconds later the scientist leaned back and gasped.

"Incredible," She breathed, "I never thought the images would be so intense. I need a moment to collect myself." She took several deep breaths, rubbing her arms and forehead.

Eventually Shepard asked, "Did the vision make any sense to you?

"It's a distress call, a message sent out across the Prothean Empire, a warning against the Reapers," Liara filed through the images, "But the warning came too late."

"What about the Conduit?"

"There were other images, locations, places I recognise from my research," She went silent as she tried to put them together, "Ilos!" She looked up with a real smile on her face, "The Conduit is on Ilos, that is why Saren needed to find the Mu relay, it is the only way to get to Ilos."

"Fantastic!" Shepard sat up too fast and had to lean back as her stomach muscles cramped, "We need to get that information to the Council as fast as possible, tell Joker, then come back."

Liara hurried off, and Shepard dropped back onto her pillow, _We got it Kaidan, it wasn't for nothing. We'll get him._

The next day she was standing behind Joker in the cockpit again.

"I forwarded the mission update to the Citadel Commander. I got confirmation on the mission as well. Councillor Udina wants us back on the Citadel immediately. The council's massing a joint species fleet to deal with Saren and his geth."

"I knew they'd come around," Shepard breathed a sigh of relief, "Back to the Citadel Joker, I want the Normandy at the head of that fleet."

"Yes ma'am." He set the course, but she felt that he wanted to say something more. "Commander, I know that this is wrong of me, and I don't mean it the way it sounds, but thank you for saving Ash."

She didn't know how to respond, "Joker, it doesn't make you any less of a good man to be glad someone close to you made it. You can still feel that, and grief over his death."

"Yeah I guess you're right Commander. I just wish things were different."

"Me too Joker." She patted him lightly on the arm, "We're having a meal tonight, it would be good to see you down there."

"Yes ma'am."

"I don't know how you might do this in your cultures," Shepard said as she stood at the head of the dining table. "But in Earth culture, at times like this we say something about the person we have lost, something that we remember them by, or something that they represented." She raised her glass, "Does anyone want to start?"

To everyone's surprise, Wrex pulled himself to his feet and planted both clenched fists on the table, beginning with a long low growl that rattled the entire table, "Alenko was a warrior. He lived with honour. He was not krogan, but he fought as one." And with that he sat.

There was silence for several second, and then Garrus took up his drink and stood, "The Lieutenant was a loyal comrade, and a valued teammate. His duty was critical to him, and his actions always to the highest standard in pursuit of his duty. His spirit will be missed." He took a long pull on his drink, which the others joined him in, and sat.

Ashley was sitting at her other side, covered in medical tape and bandages, with Joker next to her, holding her hand and looking awkward. Shepard looked around her teammates, and was surprised again when Tali was the next to stand.

"Kaidan Alenko was a part of this ship. A part of the whole. He made everyone feel welcome, and feel a part of the ship." She looked down at the table, "He made me feel like I had a place to be useful again."

She sat down, and Chakwas touched her shoulder lightly. Liara was next to stand, looking to Shepard to make sure she was doing it right.

"Kaidan was a good man, who put others before himself, whether on a mission or in privacy. He was a worthy friend, and a worthy man." She sat.

Ashley pulled herself to her feet, resting heavily on one of her own crutches and lifting her glass with a hand that shook. "Kaidan," She stopped and took a breath, "Kaidan was my friend."

After Ashley had sat Shepard looked to the others who had joined them, but none of them stood. She raised her glass, waiting until they had all followed suit, "To Kaidan."

"Good job Shepard," It made her skin crawl just to be in his presence, but unfortunately they had no sooner arrived than Udina demanded they come join him at the Council chambers. "Thanks to you the Council's finally taking real action against Saren."

The asari councillor spoke, "The Ambassador is correct, if Saren is foolish enough to attack the Citadel, as you believe," There still seemed to be a note of disbelief behind it all, "We will be ready for him."

"Patrols are stationed at every Mass Relay linking Citadel Space to the Terminus Systems." The turian councillor seemed to be sulking, but she had bigger concerns.

"You think a blockade's going to stop him?" She had seen Joker's report, it hadn't missed anything. She had been proven right at every turn, how could they still not believe her? "He's on Ilos looking for the Conduit right now, what are you doing about that?"

"Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus Systems Commander," The asari leaned forward to glare at her, "If we send a fleet in there the only possible outcome is full scale war."

"Now is the time for discretion Commander," Udina's voice was like an oil slick being poured over her head, "Saren's greatest weapons was secrecy, exposed he is no longer a threat." _You really believe that don't you? _"This is over."

_Not while I have breath in my body._ "One ship going into the Terminus Systems won't start a war, I can be discrete."

"You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire!" Finally the turian councillor stepped forwards, "I wouldn't call that discrete." _And the dozen times I saved the day without anyone even noticing I had arrived?_

"Your style served you well in the traverse Commander," She had used to think the asari councillor was her best chance for reasoning, but the patronising tone made her want to vault the barriers and punch her right in the face. "We recognise that, but Ilos requires a deft touch, we have the situation under control." _You haven't had anything in control since this whole mess started._ Shepard thought bitterly, _And you're going to let it get worse._

"If Saren finds the conduit we're all screwed!" She yelled, forgetting about etiquette, "We have to go to Ilos!"

"Ambassador Udina," The salarian finally started paying attention, "I get the sense Commander Shepard isn't willing to let this go." They were going to go round her, that was the way they were going to get her.

"There are serious political implications here Shepard," _Damn your politics Udina, we have to say people!_ "Humanity's made great gains thanks to you but now you're becoming more trouble than you're worth!"

Behind her Ashley was more willing to put her true feelings to words, "You bastard, you're selling us out!"

"It's just politics Commander." He stepped forward to more directly address the Council, "You've done your job, now let me do mine. We've locked out all the Normandy's primary systems until further notice you're grounded."

"Are you insane," She didn't have the strength left to fight them. They were blocking her at every turn. "After everything I've done you still don't believe me!"

"I think it's time for you and your team to leave Commander," His tone made it clear it wasn't a request. "This no longer concerns you, the Council can handle this, with my help of course." He straightened in a manner he probably thought looked intimidating, leaving her to lead her team back to the Normandy.

She ordered her team to take some time off, not even bothering to confine them to the Normandy, and went to work on their equipment. Within the hour there was barely anyone left on the Normandy, and she eventually told Joker to dim the lights. No sense wasting power while they were still grounded.

She left her quarters, sparing a glance at the computer Kaidan had used to work at. She had turned it off first thing when they came back, and it hadn't been turned on since. She went across to her locker, and pulled out the new torso piece, making sure her modifications had been installed properly. It was the third time in two hours she had done it, not sure what else she could possibly spend her time doing anymore.

She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Liara standing behind her, "Hey there," She said, pushing the armour back into place.

"You have been on the ship this whole time?"

"Yeah, didn't really want to go back on the Citadel. Too many people I might be about to let down."

"You are not going to let people down. None of this is your fault. And you have always found some way to turn things around. It will be no different now."

Shepard twisted and sat on the deck, "Thanks, but I need a plan. Somehow I have to find a way to get us off this station."

Liara sat next to her and rested on her shoulder, "And that's why you've confined yourself to a darkened spaceship staring at your armour?"

"I've got nothing Liara. No plans, no strategies. They've gone over my head, cut me off at a place I can't even reach."

"Hackett?"

"Unavailable. He's part of the fleet being assembled, and I'm fairly certain Udina is blocking some of my calls as well."

"Who else have you called?"

"A couple of my old commanders. I haven't told them the situation, just wanted to know about their own experiences with nonsense like this."

"And were they any help?"

"Unfortunately, everyone I spoke to agrees that once the politicians get involved, all we can do is float and sputter." Her head dropped down and she closed her eyes.

Liara nudged her chin, "Come on Maia." They looked at each from only centimetres away. "If there is nothing that you can do as a Commander, then maybe it is time to consider things you can do as a person."

"Liara, is this really the right time?"

"We are alone on the ship. The lights are low. We are locked in place by events we cannot control. Maybe it is time we both took control of ourselves."

Maia leaned in even closer, until their lips were almost brushing, "I think I'm about ready to take control."

Liara smiled, and they moved their arms as one, drawing their bodies together.

"Hey, Commander."

Shepard pulled back automatically, "Joker?"

"You were expecting Udina?" He sounded far too happy. "I've got a message you're gonna want to hear."

Shepard stood, Liara following her and wrapping her arms round Shepard from behind, their bodies still pressed tightly together. "What is it Joker?"

"Anderson wants a chat."

"I'll be up in a moment."

"That's fine by me; I'll just stay up here, watching Vaenia. You know, the production values on this movie really are incredible."

"What was that about?" Shepard turned back to see that Liara had gone almost pink with blush.

"It does not matter," Liara gently brushed her cheek, "You go and find out what Anderson wants."

Shepard strode to the cockpit, and found Joker sitting with a gigantic smile on his face.

"Alright, out with it, how long were you listening in?"

"Listening in?" He said innocently, "I just knew you were on the ship, thought you'd want to know about Anderson."

"You're a bad man Joker."

"Well, after that time you came barging into the cockpit I thought I was owed a little bit of cockblocking." He tilted his head, "Is that even possible with you and Liara?"

"Well I'm starting to see why the cockpit gets its name but I'm not saying any more." She tapped the computer, "What does Anderson want?"

"A meeting in Flux, that nightclub down in the Wards. He says he might be able to help us."

She ended up bringing Liara, and told the rest of her team to meet her if they could.

Anderson was in casual wear, and that was enough of a shock to her. She sat at the table with him and smiled wanly. He returned it with as little enthusiasm. "I'm glad you came Shepard, I heard what happened."

"They pulled me off the mission, just like when they forced you to give up the Normandy."

"I know," Of all the people she had spoken to, perhaps he really was the one who understood, "I'm sorry, I wanted to warn you, but there was no way to get a message to you before you docked." He leaned forwards, turning very serious, "I know you're pissed off right now, but you can't give up, they all think this is over but we both know it's not. You have to go to Ilos, you have to stop Saren from using the conduit."

She leaned in as well, hoping he had some plan, "There's only one ship that can get me into the terminus systems undetected, and she's grounded."

His smile now was conspiratorial, "Citadel controls locked out all the Normandy's systems, but if we override the Ambassador's orders, we can get them to bring the Normandy back on line you can be in the Terminus Systems before anyone even knows you're gone." _The crew would be behind me,_ Was her first thought, followed immediately by, _But the Council won't._

"If we steal the Normandy," She hadn't noticed Garrus coming in, but he stood at her shoulder now, "You're the one left holding the bag."

Anderson nodded to him, "And if Saren finds the conduit, life as we know it is over The Reapers will destroy us. Humans, asari everybody, you're the only one who can stop him Shepard," _I didn't think _that_ would have changed._ "So I'll do whatever it takes to get you on the Normandy and off this station."

"We won't forget this Captain." Tali was at her other shoulder, and as she glanced back she saw Wrex entering as well.

"I can unlock the Normandy from one of the consoles in the Citadel Control Centre, you'll have a few minutes, before anyone realises what's happened."

"That is a restricted area," Liara leaned in as well, "It is patrolled by armed guards, how are you going to get in?"

"Leave that to me; just make sure you're in the Normandy when the systems come back online."

Shepard shook her head, leaning back and trying to think, "You're gonna get yourself killed, there has to be another way."

"Ambassador Udina issued the lockdown order," Ashley touched her lightly on the shoulder, and she looked back to see them all standing there, "If I can hack into the computer in his office, maybe I can override it."

"He won't just stand by while you use his computer." No one looked too worried about that idea.

"Hopefully he won't be there, if he is," Anderson clenched a fist, "I'll just have to think of something."

Liara still sounded worried, "The ambassador will not forgive this Captain, you will be charged with treason, a capital offence."

"We're out of options," She had known it herself, but to be told so bluntly by someone else really hammered it home, "I break into the ambassador's computer, or I take my chances with the patrols in Citadel Control."

Shepard stood, nodding to all of her teammates before turning back to the Captain, "You'll have a better chance if you go after the Ambassador's computer."

"I was hoping you'd say that. The Ambassador has made this personal." _You've got that right; I'd be right at your shoulder if I had the chance._ "You ready to get the hell off this station Commander?"

One last glance at her team, who all had determination in every line of their bodies. "Let's do it."

"I'll take care of the lockdown;" He stood as well and walked past them, "You get down to the Normandy and tell Joker to standby."

They sat in the Normandy cockpit, watching the orders tensely. The computer still glowed red with the lockdown, and every so often Joker looked back at her, uncertain. As the minutes dragged on she got less and less certain herself, hoping against hope that there would be no other complications. It would be all they needed for Udina to have Palin in his office or something.

Without warning the displays went green for a brief second before settling into their usual orange glow. Joker, who couldn't have had any more time to prepare, was already at the controls, bringing them out at all speed, sending all the usual commands back to Citadel Control, who of course had no idea that the Normandy hadn't been allowed out with full consent.

"So Commander," He said as they raced to the Mass Relay, "We're officially fugitives. What are you going to do now?"

"Take some time off. And so are you. That's an order. When you're done here, you're off until we reach the Mu Relay."

"Thank you ma'am."

**AN:-** This dinner scene was one of the first I ever wrote, and at the time I wrote it twice, once for each character. Basically I wanted each of the characters to say something that was unique to their cultures, praising him in their own way. Garrus compliments him for following his duty, Wrex compliments him as warrior, Tali as someone who made people feel like part of the whole, Liara as an empath, and Ashley as his friend. I didn't want Shepard to say anything because really the point is that everyone else says what she would have said alone anyway.

The title of the chapter refers both to the grounding of the Normandy, and the fact that after this point in the game you are 'locked in' until the end, with no way to change your course. It's probably the chapter title I put most thought into. I was thinking that maybe I would bring Emily Wong back, or any of the other little sidequests you can pick up, but by this point it kind of felt to me like the story just needs to follow the path Bioware laid out, and finish in a blaze of glory.

I just hope I can write the blaze of glory.


	30. Chapter 29: Calm Before the Storm

**AN:-** Oh man, I'm back! Hello readers old and new! The story continues as ever, especially what with the release of Mass Effect: Arrival (Which I have yet to get) and all the hype for ME 3. Basically here's the deal. I have now finished all my essays, seminars and lectures for university, but I still have my third year exams, which aren't until June. Right now I am on Easter break, and so far have no work lined up, which means I have more time to finish this and get started on an ME2 novelisation. I'm a little out of practice with Mass Effect, but hopefully I'm a little bit of better writer than when I started this thing. Thank you so much to everyone who's read and reviewed up to now, but please keep up the reading and reviewing, i really is what keeps me going sometimes.

But enough of me be sentimental, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Calm Before the Storm.**

"Hey Ash." She was sitting at the dining table, staring at Kaidan's computer.

"Hey Joker."

He crutched over to her, moving with surprising dexterity as he came to sit next to her. "This isn't the time." He told her. "Afterwards, when we're not hurtling to our dooms. If we make it through this, then we grieve for everyone who's been lost."

She managed to pull her eyes away from the space, "And what do you suggest we do right now?"

"That I'm not so hot on, but I'm sure I could think of one or two things."

"You thinking about our dear Commander and her Vaenia?" Ashley chuckled. Joker had shown her the movie a while ago, trying to decide on how they could use it to tease the two.

"Yes I am, and I made that joke as well."

"Really?" She sat forward, looking at least a little less glum, "How'd it go?"

"Shepard didn't get it, but Liara lit up like a Christmas tree."

"Liara reacted and Shepard didn't?" Ashley raised an eyebrow; "You know what that means don't you?"

Joker winced, "Now to be fair when I made that bet you were taking advantage of me."

"Oh really? I wasn't aware it was taking advantage when the other party wanted it too."

"Maybe I could pay you back some other way?" He grinned.

She leaned in close and bumped his forehead, "You have something in mind?"

"How about we celebrate life a little?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me." She helped him stand and slipped a hand around him, "I think Liara's probably waiting by the door in their anyway, ready to spring out when we leave."

That made him laugh, and as she led him back to the cockpit they heard the medical bay door opening and the light footsteps of someone hurrying across to Shepard's room.

Shepard wasn't really looking at the information on Ilos. Her mind was too busy racing over other things. She was a fugitive now, her and the rest of her crew. She could argue about the necessity of it, the need to stop Saren, the need to save people, but she had asked her people to follow her down a road they might not return from. It was too much for one person to handle, but she had to.

_I never even imagined things would get this bad._ She had come onto the Normandy expecting it to be a shakedown run of the new ship, another pointless assignment so the psyches would have more evidence that she wasn't suffering from PTSD. Now here she was, leading a crew down the dragon's mouth armed with little more than can-do spirit.

_I need someone know, someone to talk to, someone to share this with._ She smiled and looked at the door, _I need Liara, I really do._

The door didn't cycle open on cue, and she was left to turn back to the computer and try reading some more, eventually abandoning the document and bringing up Alenko's

_Kaidan, we're going to make it count._

Finally, the door swept open, and when it closed she heard the locks being put on as well.

"Shepard," There was a pause as she pushed her chair out, "Maia. May I speak with you?"

It was funny to hear her speech become so formal again; Shepard knew her well enough now to know it was just her own particular way of showing how awkward she found a situation, "I was just thinking about you." She said, semi-truthfully.

"I have been thinking about you too, and what we are about to face." She stepped closer and Shepard stood to meet her in the front of the room. "I do not know what is going to happen on Ilos, I hope we will stop Saren of course, but part of me fears we are already too late," She seemed to get a little more confident, "There is something I must tell you, in case we fail."

"We're not going to fail, I promise."

Liara gave a crooked smile, "Please, I am not looking for comfort," She took another step closer, "Saren might already have the Conduit, it is time to be completely honest with each other, these could be our last moments together, our last chance to show each other how we feel." She looked away for a moment, becoming the shy woman Shepard knew so well, "I want this to be special."

"We don't have to do this," Shepard had seen far too many people who let the drama define their relationships, rather than letting the drama happen around their lives. "Not unless you're sure."

"I have never been more sure of anything in my life," She stepped in so close that her breath was tickling Shepard's neck, "Will you join with me Shepard, let our bodies and minds unite?"

Shepard felt a smile on her own face and pulled the asari in close, "Just tell me what to do."

For a moment they stood clumsily in the middle of the room, kissing and fumbling with each others' clothes, "I think, mm," Liara was kissing her way slowly down Shepard's neck, "I think you may have a little more experience, ah, than I do."

Shepard pulled her up and kissed her full on the mouth, shutting her up and enjoying the look of joy that flooded across her face. The asari's hands were running down her bac, ad now gripped hard, forcing them harder together. Shepard spun them and they tumbled backwards onto the bed, struggling with clasps and zips. Shepard's trousers ended up on the floor while Liara's jacket got caught on the computer, cutting out that light source.

"I don't even know if you're, uh," Shepard couldn't think of a way to ask about alien anatomy and keep the mood, but Liara was guiding her hand down, and she felt herself blushing a little as she realised, _Well, that answers one question I had._

Liara bit her lip, her eyes squeezed tight as she helped Shepard remember how it all went together. It was beginning to feel right, the two of them moving slowly, finding the right pace. Shepard continued to undress the scientist, marvelling at the blue skin, almost luminescent, as it was revealed. Hands were tugging off her shirt, and she smiled up at Liara, who had finally opened her eyes, now turned completely black.

Searching fingers found an old scar, running along her side, a deep track left by a plasma burner, nearly thirteen years ago at Mindoir. The sensitive skin tensed up under the touch, and Shepard's body arched up into Liara's. "Well that was a response." The asari smiled down at her.

"I'll show you a response." Shepard bucked her hips and they rolled over, Liara now underneath as Shepard pinned her arms down and bent into kiss her.

"Goddess yes," Liara moaned, tipping her head back to allow Shepard access to her neck again.

_Cinnamon and strawberries,_ Shepard remembered as she kissed her way down Liara's body, _She smells just like cinnamon and strawberries._

She watched Liara wake up slowly, tensing at first until she recognised her surroundings. She brought the blanket up with her as she sat, but let it drop when she saw Shepard.

"By the goddess," She sighed deep in her throat and stretched her arms, which at least managed to raise Shepard's blood pressure again. "That was incredible Shepard."

"You were incredible." And she meant it. It had been everything she had needed, everything she had been missing, for all those years. Again the image of Hanna came into her mind, but instead of the accusing eyes there had always been, the face of her old friend was happy, at peace. And maybe she finally was too.

"Five minutes ETA to the Mu relay." Joker's voice broke ove them, and Liara, self-conscious again, gathered the sheet around herself and looked away. Shepard went over to her and kissed her, drinking in everything she could from the contact. Somewhere along the way Liara rose and drew them together again.

"I had better go," She finally said, letting Shepard go and smiling, "Duty calls, you would not want to keep Joker waiting Shepard." She paused, gathering the sheet again and stading, "Whatever happens on Ilos, I just wanted to say thank you for everything."

Shepard smiled and kissed her one last time. "I should be thanking you. You put me back together Liara, I owe you so much."

"Neither one of us owes the other anything," Liara said seriously, "No go save the universe hero."

The cockpit smelled faintly of sweat and another, very familiar, scent. _I won't ask._ Shepard tried to ignore it as she came up behind Joker, also trying to ignore the bra that was hanging off one of the computers and the women's panties she had to step over.

"You sure about this Shepard?" Joker asked her as the Mu relay loomed large in front of them.

"Not at all." It felt good to admit, and besides, what more could they do now? "Take us in." She turned to leave and get into her armour, pausing a moment, "Oh, and you might want to have Ashley get back up here and collect her effects, I'm sure neither of you wants dirty laundry on display for the crew.

She was rewarded with the sound of him spluttering as she marched down the corridor, and a wicked smile came to her lips as she suddenly thought of something, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Ah, Commander, we've got company." It was said so simply, but it conveyed enough. Even Joker sounded tense.

"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" Ashley was leaning over his shoulder, one hand resting on his arm. Everyone was looking elsewhere.

"The stealth systems are engaged, unless we get close enough for a visual they won't have any idea we're here."

"Picking up some strange readings from the planet surface." Liara glanced back to Shepard, and when she looked back to the computer she was smiling.

Shepard felt her own lips quirking up, but now wasn't the best time. "Take us down Joker. Lock in on the coordinates."

Pressley was there with them, and he made his opinion known. "Negative on that Commander. The nearest landing zones two clicks away."

Shepard frowned, but it was Ashley who voiced her concern. "We'll never make it in time on foot, get us something closer."

"There is nothing closer, I've looked."

"Drop us in the mako!" Shepard needed something.

"You need at least a hundred metres of open terrain to pull off a drop like that!" As if she didn't already know all the specs of the machine by heart. "The most I can find near Saren is twenty."

"Twenty metres?" Tali looked at her, and though her face was hidden there was concern in every line of her body, "No way we can make a drop in there."

Liara was a little more optimistic, but even she sounded uncertain, "We have to try."

"Find another landing zone!" Ashley yelled as they approached the atmosphere.

"There is no other landing zone!" Pressley yelled back.

"The descent angles too steep!" Tali joined in.

"It's our only option." Ashley and Pressley were in the middle of the cockpit shouting into each other's faces.

"It's not an option it's a suicide run, we don't…"

"I can do it."

Calm practically radiated from the pilot as he set them into an even steeper angle.

"Joker?" There was so much riding on him, and Shepard still wasn't sure if she believed all the hype of his file.

He didn't even look back, but his voice was all the reassurance she needed, "I can do it."

She took a deep breath and turned to her team, who were looking at her like she was a madwoman. _I think we're all mad right here and now. Good thing too, he'll never suspect insanity. _"Gear up and head down to the mako," They rushed out, leaving her alone with her pilot and XO. "Joker," She gripped his shoulder, careful not to be too tight. "Drop us right on top of that bastard."

**AN:-** God I've missed his. I had the dialogue all written out since Christmas, but I haven't been writing since then, so coming back to this was just weird. I read the whole story before getting started, and I have to say I think I like it more now than when I was writing it first time round. Doesn't mean there aren't things I could change, and I hope to, but I don't think I've done half bad with this one.

One of the reviews (hey Miralinda!) for the last chapter told me to slow down for the love scene between Liara and Shepard, I hope this was slow enough for everyone. I didn't want to get too explicit, but its kind of hard to write a convincing sex scene without there being any involvement of the required bits. And as far as I'm concerned, anatomically Asari are mostly the same as human females, but don't think too hard about it. Whatever you want to think, think that.

I can't believe this thing's nearly over! It's basically been my secondary project for the entirety of my third year at uni! Im already thinking about the second one, and even the third one!

Since this one was technically called Mass Effect: Into Greatness, the second one will probably be Mass Effect: Out of the Dark. Both are based around quotes from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (hey I'm a third year English student, sue me) and so the third one will be something ridiculous like Mass Effect; Food of Love.

Read and review, I'm not mad, really, just very happy to be back.


	31. Chapter 30: Ilos

**AN:-** Alrighty then. I have finished my Mass Effect playthrough (raucous applause, cheering, the crowd goes wild) Thank you, thank you. So now the only thing left to do is write it up. Chapter Thirty and Thirty One are the Ilos chapter, including Vigil and the Conduit, and then after that it should be between two and three full chapters to the end, then a few thousand words for the Epilogue.

It's nearly done! I can't believe I finally made it. I can't believe it took me so long either. I must have had a gap of at least three months there. Ah well, university calls. Speaking of, the next novelisation, Mass Effect 2: Into the Dark, may take a little while in getting started, partly for reasons that I'll discuss when I post it, and partly because at the end of May/beginning of June I have my Finals. It's only to exams, but since they kind of determine a large proportion of my grade I'm meaning to do well on them. So I hope you'll forgive a schedule slip. Of course, most of you seem to have returned after three months so I assume you like my writing enough to allow such slips.

Onwards!

**Chapter Thirty: Ilos**

They hurtled through the atmosphere at full speed, the re-entry rattling them from nose to stern. Down in the launch bay with her team gathered round the mako Shepard was finding it hard to keep her feet, let alone deliver any kind of sensible speech.

"I'll try and keep this short, you're not stupid, you know what the chances are, and what the cost is should we fail." She looked over them all, meeting their eyes, and in all of them she saw the same determination she felt herself. "You've all come here for the same reason, to stop Saren, and I can see how far you're all willing to go to achieve that aim. But I don't want this to be a suicide run. I don't want you to be going in there, thinking that you won't make it out. That makes people reckless, and recklessness could bring us down. All I ask is that you consider the same question I will be considering when we are down there. Will my death help to bring him down? Either directly, or by allowing one of your teammates to take the shot."

They nodded one by one, and she smiled, suddenly glad to be surrounded by friends as they plunged into the mouth of the dragon. It hadn't been long, but she already knew that all of them were ready, and all of them were ready to die for this. _Hopefully, that won't be necessary._

"Into the mako."

They pounded in, leaving her standing for a moment alone in the cargo bay. She reached to her comm device and signalled Joker, "Alright Joker, the moment we're dropped, make for the mass relay, you need to get to fifth fleet, tell Hackett, I don't know…" She stopped and considered, "Make something up, just make sure you're leading that fleet. He knows the ship, he'll vouch for you."

"I understand Captain." She was about to get in when her comm chimed again, "Shepard, good luck in there."

She smiled, "Yes Joker, we'll be back, don't worry."

When the door opened the mako began a steady slide towards the exit, Garrus taking the controls to make the controlled exit they would need. Shepard gripped her arm rest and tried to stay calm as she saw the planet rushing towards them, much faster than their usual drops.

"I know it's a little late commander," Ashley had leaned in behind her, "But are you sure about this?"

"No." Shepard looked to Garrus, who was hunched over the controls. She was surprised to find that she knew immediately that he was nervous. "Strike that," She managed a smile, "We're gonna be fine."

"Tali, on three, engage thrusters."

"Do you mean on three or three then go?" Liara shouted from her corner seat.

"What?" Garrus yelled back.

Shepard actually laughed, though it sounded a little manic to her ears. "She's been watching Earth movies, ignore her."

"On three!" He bellowed, "One! Two!"

The Normandy began to bank and he jammed the mako forwards, "Three!"

The boosters roared and the mako jumped over the lip of the bay door as it was closing, the tank holding in the air for a few seconds before the thrusters ran out and they dropped like a stone. Garrus clung to the controls for dear life, and managed to make himself heard over the racket of the drop, "Again Tali, on three."

The ground was coming up so fast all Shepard could see was a vague patch of brown, and the amount of pressure building inside the mako felt like it was going to pop her head in a moment. But Garrus was somehow able to distinguish things well enough to give more orders. "One! Two!" Shepard crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her harness tight. "Three!"

The thrusters fired again and they righted themselves, deep amber skies visible for a second. Then they hit the ground, the suspension only holding for a moment before they bunny hopped forwards, clattering to a halt with the bumper resting up against a wall. Garrus leaned away from the controls and breathed deeply, "Alright then." He turned back to where Shepard was hanging half out of her chair, still clinging to the straps. "This is your show again Commander."

"Everyone out, ready for attack." She hit the release catch and dropped onto the deck, She heard the rest of her crew thud to the deck and stood. She glanced at the computer before she left and scanned the topographic map the scanner was building. Ahead of them was a wall or door made of thick enough material to baffle the sensors, and behind them a series of blind corners and shifting terrain made the situation look even worse.

"They were here," Wrex growled as she got out, gesturing to the floor, "Geth tracks everywhere." He followed the tracks up to the wall that had blocked the computer, "This is a door, the tracks go under it."

Shepard stared at the seemingly impenetrable entrance, "We have to get inside this bunker before Saren finds the Conduit." She whirled around to get her team's opinions.

"There is no way we are getting through that door with brute force." Liara told her. She had already guessed as much.

"Saren found a way to get it open," Tali was running her omni-tool over the door, "There must be some kind of security override somewhere in this complex."

"We'll have to find some way to get it up and running again." Garrus growled, drawing his sniper rifle, "And we have company by the way," He said casually as a round flew past his ear.

Shepard's own pistol was out and barking in three round bursts as a squad of geth came up behind them. The mako gave her team more than enough protection from the light arms fire and the geth dropped in seconds. "It looks like there's some sort of compound out there," Shepard brought the map up on her omni-tool, "Lots of blind corners and ambush points, but no computers or mechanisms that the computer could find, so we're going to have to search manually."

She led them to the top of the ramp and checked the map again. There seemed to be two obvious directions, one of which led down a ramp while the other took the further into the upper levels. "Garrus, take Williams and Tali; do a sweep of the lower levels. It looks like there should be another ramp leading up to us when you've finished, but if it looks like there are too many then retreat up here."

The turian nodded, switched to his assault rifle, and motioned for the other two to follow him. Shepard turned to her remaining squad, "Wrex, Liara, we're going to clear this area, we can't go searching for Prothean technology if we're under attack from all sides."

Liara nodded and retrieved her pistol, a faint blue flare already starting around her. Wrex gave a low roar and pounded away. Shepard put her own pistol away and took her sniper rifle instead, and followed him.

The fight was one of the hardest they had faced. The geth were entrenched and ready for them, with energy shields every few feet and every possible bit of cover moved to hamper Shepard's team. Armatures dotted the concourse and more than once the whole team had to bunker down behind an outcropping of rock to let their shields recharge.

"These geth are cowards," Wrex declared as he stood on top of a stone block and dragged his assault rifle back and forth, peppering the geth defences. "They cower and scurry behind their cover instead of doing battle as warriors." A couple of seconds later he gave his distinctive cry of victory and Shepard stood to witness the latest carnage he had caused.

Her comm unit crackled and Garrus' voice came through, thick with static, "Heavy resistance down here Commander. Tali thinks we've found the control unit for the geth armatures though. Another few seconds and we should have total control."

"Where are you Garrus?"

"According to your map about halfway towards the second ramp. We should be rejoining you shortly."

"Good man, keep me posted."

She checked her own map, they were a few feet from the second ramp, and her motion sensor didn't show any signs of geth activity.

"Come on, it's time to regroup."

As she jumped over the cover her shields sparked and kinetic force shoved her backwards into the rock. A second shot slammed into her side and she gasped as it burned a path right through her. Wrex opened fire again and there was a distant squawk as a geth sniper dropped. Liara was at her side in an instant, applying medigel to the wound. "This injury is serious Shepard."

"Not much we can do about it here," She pushed herself back up, resisting the urge to massage the wound, "I'm fine, we've got to keep going." She managed a smile for Liara, "Hey, no one said this was going to be easy, did they?" It had the desired effect, some of the worry fading from the asari's face, but as they pushed on Shepard couldn't help but feel a little worried. Getting so badly injured so early on could hardly be a good omen.

Gunfire below them pulled her back into the present, and she saw Wrex rushing to add his fire as Tali crested the ramp, running hard with her shield sparkling from the sheer number of hits. Williams was next, her bicep exposed and blood running down the outside of her armour. The assault rifle in her hand was glowing red, and any second it was going to overheat. Wrex heaved himself over the lip of the ramp and crashed down onto the floor below, taking the brunt of the assault for a few seconds as the team repositioned themselves and returned fire.

Garrus came over to her, slinging his assault rifle onto his back. He was limping and the armour on his right leg had been almost completely stripped away. "I should have seen that coming," He was trying to sound his usual sardonic self, but the pain in his voice was too obvious. "Ambushed us just as we were coming up the ramp, I should have checked behind it."

Shepard bit back the admonition, Garrus would already be beating himself up enough, there was no need to point out that he had made such a glaring tactical error, "You're all still alive, which means you did the job well enough."

"Thanks Shepard." He finally noticed her own injury, "You're hit! How bad?"

"Just a scratch," She told him, "You ready to move out?"

He drew his assault rifle again, "Just lead the way."

"Alright," She turned to the rest of the team, "Has anyone seen anything so far? Anything which could have been a device to open the door?" They all shook their heads, "Okay then," She checked her map, "We still have a little bit more to explore, and as long as Tali took the armatures offline it should be a little easier going as well. Move out."

She led them along a darkened tunnel lined with statues, weapons out and ready. She tried to avoid looking at the statues. They were close enough to human, but in the place of mouths and faces they had tentacles, which seemed to sprout from just below where the eyes would be in a normal human.

"It's been fifty thousand years," She heard Liara whisper, "How are these statues so well preserved?"

"Obviously the Protheans built things to last," Tali replied.

"Unless these aren't Prothean."

That thought made her shiver. All their travel and they still had no idea what the Protheans even looked like. The statues could have been anything. She found herself walking a little quicker.

At the end of the corridor she poked her head round the corner to see a small squad of geth in defensive positions, just waiting for them. _That's the problem with fighting against machines,_ She thought as she motioned Williams and Wrex to the front, _They never get tired, or slack off, or do anything, well, _human.

Twenty seconds of gunfire later and the squad was down, leaving her team free to move into the area. Williams and Wrex both sat to one side and let their shields recharge while Shepard took Tali and Liara to another door they could see at the far end of the courtyard they were in. After a few seconds of scanning Tali pointed to a recessed panel on the right, which Shepard pushed at experimentally. A button set deep in the stone clicked back and the door opened to reveal a tiny box.

"Tali," Shepard stepped back slowly, drawing her pistol for comfort, "Scans, be careful."

While Tali was doing her scans Shepard went to check in with the rest of her squad. Williams and Wrex were still letting their shields recharge, but neither of them seemed to be too badly injured. Williams was spreading medigel over her wounded shoulder, but gave a nod when she saw Shepard looking. She went over to Garrus, who was spreading medigel on his leg and wincing. "I thought you turians were tough." She said, leaning on the stone he was resting against.

"We are tough." He growled.

She looked back to the others, "How bad?"

"Bad." He finished with the medigel and looked at her, "I reckon I only have a few hours left, and then I'm afraid I'll be quite useless." He sighed and picked up his assault rifle again.

"Well let's find you something to do." Shepard pushed herself up again and nodded to Tali, who was stepping out of the room.

"It's an elevator."

"Wonderful," Shepard looked to the others, "Where does it go?"

"I don't know."

"I think I may have an idea," Liara was examining her map, "We have been unable to find a way to open the bunker Saren retreated into, which suggests there may be a central controller for all the security in this facility."

"And what's that based on?" Ashley asked.

Even in the tense situation Shepard found time to marvel at how far her teammates had come. A week ago Ashley's comment would have been sarcastic, and Liara would have recoiled from it, but now it was an exchange between equals. "This facility is not a typical Prothean structure. I believe that it may have been a military base or scientific compound of some sort. The design, the thickness of the walls, all of this suggests that it was built to withstand cataclysmic destruction; even the statues. If you were building a military compound, would you not have a central control centre?"

Shepard nodded, "Sounds good to me, and one way or the other we don't have a better option right now." She led them inside and nodded to Tali, "Take us down."

There were geth waiting. Shepard ducked and let Williams and Wrex fire over her head, drawing her rifle off her back and firing further into the security room where two geth destroyers were charging them down. When all the geth were cleared up they walked through to the main courtyard, which was overlooked by what Shepard assumed was the security room.

They walked inside and split up, every member looking for some sort of override command for the doors. Tali signalled them over and ran her omni tool over a metal console, "That should do it."

"Come," Liara was at her shoulder, "Saren already has a head start, we have to find him before he reaches the Conduit."

"Unless he's already found it," Williams drew her rifle, "Then we're just walking into a trap."

"That is a chance we will have to take."

Garrus broke through the conversation, "Hold on, something's happening," He pointed to the console, which was flickering, an orange light struggling to form before them.

"Too late.." The words were garbled, but Shepard could make some of them out, static blocked most of the message, "Unable to… invading fleets… no escape."

"Sounds like some kind of message," Tali was back by the console, running her omni tool up and down the surface, "But I don't recognise the language."

"It is probably in Prothean, this recording must be fifty thousand years old," Liara sounded as full of wonder as when they had been walking past the statues, "No wonder we cannot understand it." She sounded disappointed.

"The message is all broken up but I recognise some of the words," Shepard listened closer, feeling the eyes of her team on her, "It's a warning against the Reaper invasion."

"And how do you know that?" Williams sounded very suspicious, and she hadn't put her rifle away.

"Of course," Liara was right next to her, her eyes hungry as she watched the hologra struggling for density, random words coming through, planets and systems Shepard had never heard of, a list of the dead. "Between the Beacons and the Cipher an understanding of the Prothean language would have been transferred into your mind

Eventually the list came to an end and the message moved on, "None safe… seek refuge… side the archives." Somehow she realised that the archives were where Saren had headed. The Beacons had been mildly telepathic so she supposed it made sense for the everyday Prothean language to be as well.

"What's it saying?" Garrus was a little more pragmatic about the whole thing, "Can you make out anything useful?"

"…alled Reapers… the citadel… overwhelmed… only hope."

"Nothing much, just a list of the destroyed planets and reference to the archives, which I think is the bunker Saren's hidden in."

A new voice, deeper, and calmer, "Act of desperation… the Conduit… all is lost." It was the calm of someone who has accepted death. Shepard knew the tone, and she couldn't help but shake her head as it spelled out the last words of the Protheans.

"It said something about the Conduit," She told her team, trying to ignore the beacon, "But it's too degraded to help." She stared at the console, which had frozen, repeating the last three words again and again, "We should go."

She was glad her team couldn't understand the language, as she led them to a second elevator at the back of the security room. They hadn't exactly made her feel any better about her mission, or their chances. "Cannot be stopped," They still echoed round her as the elevator door slid shut and the gears kicked into life, "Cannot be stopped."

**AN:-** Not much to say about this one now it's done. Very by the numbers, nothing too exciting. I didn't want to start the big action now and then have to try and maintain it for three or four solid chapters until the end. Since I've also been away for a while this was a nice way to get back into the feel of writing the story as well. I literally had reached the point of going down the elevator as of last chapter, so it's been quite fun just playing Mass Effect again, let alone writing it.

But enough of this, without further ado, onto the next chapter, Vigil.

One note, the statues on Ilos. They don't look like Protheans, they look like some sort of chtulhu/human mixture, whereas the Protheans, even in the vision, look more insectoid. There's all sorts of theories about online about what the statues are supposed to represent but I just thought I'd have our resident scientist bring our attention to it now, in the hope that Bioware expands on it a little more in ME3. Second Note, Liara's managing to work out what the facility is (sort of). She's been studying the Prothean ruins for fifty years, so I'd assume by now she knows the difference between a military compound and a dwelling, and I also presume that the Ilos facility was built to last, so would be a military design, even if it was a scientific research centre. Also, it's been standing for fifty thousand years ith no maintenance, so clearly something was up with that. In game it's just an example of Gameplay/Story segregation, but in a novelisation, I have to try and justify it.


	32. Chapter 31: Vigil

**AN:-** The last big text dump, and basically the end of Ilos.

**Chapter Thirty-One: Vigil**

The elevator opened up a few feet from the mako, and as they approached the tank the door opened up in front of them.

"I vote we take the mako into the dark scary tunnel filled with monsters." Tali chimed as she made for the door, followed by Liara and Wrex.

"Yes," Garrus was a few steps behind them, "Its heavy ordinance should prove useful in those tight quarters."

"Come on Garrus," Shepard climbed in after him and made her way to the front, "Just because this has absolutely no chance of success is no reason to be negative."

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Liara said from her seat.

"What?"

"You were just quoting from Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Do you remember everything?" Shepard shoved the mako into gear and revved them forwards into the tunnel, "Or only things that you know will embarrass me?"

"Sorry, scientist's habit."

Garrus crossed his hands over his harness, "Hang on everyone, this is about to get rough."

He wasn't joking, ten feet in they collided with the root of a tree that had grown through the ceiling and were catapulted into the air. Shepard rode it out through sheer force and brought them back on track, slewing dangerously close to the edge of the bridge. There was more than enough room on either side for the mako to slip right through the gaps, and it was deep enough that the sensors couldn't give her an accurate reading on the depth.

"You know," Ashley yelled over the commotion as they entered a tunnel, miles high, with pods lining every surface, "I remember when a mission entailed us jumping into the mako, setting down on a deserted planet, and checking monkeys to make sure they hadn't stolen a key card. Doesn't anyone else wish it was like that now?"

A rocket flew overhead and exploded on the wall behind them, one f the pods shaking loose and dropping to the floor. It sprang open, but if there had been anything inside it had long since fading to nothingness. Garrus swung the turret round and returned fire, the resulting explosion shaking loose more pods, that crashed to the ground either side of the Normandy.

"What are those things?" Tali asked as they drove under one.

"I think they may be cryo-pods." Liara sounded sad, "Possibly the last ditch attempt by the Protheans to survive."

"The Protheans were wiped out fifty thousand years ago," Ashley didn't sound too sure, "Do you think some of them might have survived on this base?"

"It would be amazing, but I struggle to see how this one planet could have survived the Reaper invasion, let along gone on to be a major population centre."

They crossed another bridge, Wrex and Garrus working in tandem to bring down the geth who tried to stop them, and found themselves in another hall, lined with even more pods. "There must be thousands of them. Is it possible?" Liara was off in her own little world.

Up ahead Shepard could see some sort of energy field, but without another direction she had no choice but to drive towards it. hopefully it was just an automated door, and would unseal once they were past. Instead as she drew close another one appeared behind them. "Everyone out!" She yelled.

"What is happening?" The team poured out of the mako, their weapons up and ready.

"It's a trap," Wrex growled, sweeping his rifle left and right, "Saren must have set an ambush."

"I do not think Saren is behind this," Liara said, pointing to an elevator that was now visible down a side door.

Shepard examined it, "What do we think people?"

"I think this whole damn place is crawling ma'am, but I don't see another option."

"Williams, Wrex, you first, but don't do anything stupid."

"No fear."

They swept the elevator and nodded back to her, "Alright people, into the elevator, let's hope there's something friendly on the other side of it."

"Is it possible that the surviving Protheans are down there?"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up about Protheans Doctor T'soni," Garrus led them in and depressed the switch, "Even if there were some left alive, it's been too long, and what with the geth and Saren, it's just impossible."

"Stranger things have happened Mister Vakarian."

"Quiet down people, and be ready for anything."

They rode the elevator down in silence, pressed up against the walls, their weapons trained on the door, when it opened Wrex and Williams were out first, scanning everywhere and moving along a thin walkway suspended above a bed of water. Shepard followed them, barely concentrating on her sweep. There were more pods on the walls, and at the end of the walkway a console similar to the one they had encountered in the security room.

The whole place was silent, and not the calm sort of quiet. It was dead. She could practically feel Liara's hopes fading next to her. Anything that had lived here was long gone.

"Tali," She said, her voice flat and dull. The room seemed to swallow all the sound. It was like a graveyard. Looking round at the pods, she wondered just how fitting a metaphor that was.

The silence was shattered when an orange hologram flickered in front of the console. Tali sprang back in shock and Wrex unloaded a few rounds into it before they stopped to listen. "You are not Prothean," Shepard could understand it, but looking around she could see the rest of her team looking shocked. It didn't seem to have the mildly telepathic feel of other Prothean communications either. "But you are not machine either; this eventuality was one of many that was anticipated this was why we sent our warning through the beacon."

"Looks like some kind of VI program," Garrus told her, "Pretty damaged." She got the idea he was talking for the sake of talking.

"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you unlike the other that passed recently. Perhaps there is still hope."

"This is incredible," Liara stepped level with Shepard, staring at the image, "An actual Prothean VI, and I can understand it."

"I have been monitoring your communication since you arrived at this facility." It said matter-of-factly, "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend. My name is Vigil," That carried some of the feel of the psychic link. "You are safe here for the moment, but that is likely to change. Soon nowhere will be safe."

_This is beyond a Virtual Intelligence, _"Are you some kind of artificial intelligence program?" Tali asked the question for her, sounding more than a little apprehensive.

"I am an advanced non organic analysis system," _I'll never remember that_, "With personality imprints from Kshad Ishan, Chief Researcher of the Ilos facility."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years, but to stop it you must understand, or you will make the same mistakes we did. The Citadel is the heart of your civilisation, and the seat of your government, as it was with us; and as it was with every civilisation that came before us." The first meeting with Liara, their very first conversation, _The cycle has repeated itself many times over,_ and Sovereign, so self assured, _The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom._

"But the citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous Mass Relay, one that links to dark-space, the endless empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon." _That's impossible! Someone would have noticed_, But then she remembered her time on the Citadel. Research into the keepers was forbidden, was it so unthinkable that all research was forbidden, for the sake of safety? "When the Citadel is activated the Reapers will pour through, and all you know will be destroyed." It sounded less like it was warning her, and more like it was reliving the destruction of the Protheans.

"The reapers can wipe out the Council and the entire Citadel Fleet in a single surprise attack!" Garrus stormed forward.

"That was our fate." The Ai was back under control, the little emotion gone again, "Our leaders were dead before we even realised we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel and through it the mass relays. Communication and transportation throughout the Empire were crippled, each star system was isolated, cut off from the others; easy prey for the Reaper fleets. Over the next few decades, the Reapers systematically obliterated our people, world by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."

"The war was lost," Tali sounded bitter, "If you'd surrendered, they might have let you live."

"No offer of surrender was ever given." Behind her Tali turned away, and she wondered whether the quarians had ever received such an offer, or given one. "Our enemy had a single goal: the extinction of all advanced organic life. Through the Citadel the Reapers had access to all our records: maps, census data; information is power and they knew everything about us. Their fleets advanced across every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed, others were conquered, their populations enslaved."

Shepard tried to imagine it, the relentless march of the machines. She had been terrified to see Sovereign appear at Virmire, how would she react if hundreds of the things were blotting out the sky? "These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under Reaper control, taken in as refuges by other Protheans, they betrayed them to the machines.

"Like Saren," Garrus was staring down into the water below, "Or near enough."

"Within a few centuries the Reapers had enslaved or killed every Prothean in the galaxy. They were relentless, brutal, and absolutely thorough."

"I do not understand." Liara sounded calm enough, but she had Shepard's hand in a vice-like grip, "Where did the Reapers go after they had conquered your people?"

"Our worlds were stripped bare, harvested by the indoctrinated slaves. Everything of value, all resources, all technology, was taken." _Saren told us that each Reaper was a nation unto itself; surely they wouldn't need that technology, unless they aren't as invincible as he claims._ Shepard's mind was already beginning to turn; everything that Vigil was saying was a blow against the claims of Sovereign. If Vigil was telling the truth, then the Reapers were scared of something in the Milky Way.

"Certain that all advanced organic life had been extinguished; the Reapers retreated back through the Citadel Relay into dark-space, sealing it behind them. All evidence of the Reaper Invasion had been wiped away. Only their indoctrinated slaves were left behind, abandoned, mindless husks no longer capable of independent thought. The indoctrinated soon starved or died of exposure, the genocide of the Protheans was complete."

_But the traces weren't removed, and even before that. Liara was able to find evidence of civilisations before the Reapers. So much of this is built on legends and half-remembered facts. These things can be beaten._

While she was still thinking, Garrus was back with more questions, "What do the Reapers get out of this? Why do they keep repeating this pattern of genocide over and over?"

"The Reapers are alien, unknowable. Perhaps they need slaves or resources, more likely they are driven by goals and motives organic beings cannot hope to comprehend. In the end what does it matter? Your survival depends on stopping them not in understanding them."

_Oh but it does matter! _Shepard realised,_ It's all a lie, Sovereign going on about how its motives are unknowable, and now Vigil spouting the same line, almost word for word. They need something here, otherwise why bother with all the pretence, why let the civilisations grow to such size and power? If all they wanted were slaves and resources, they'd stay in the galaxy. That has to be the key!_

She brought her attention back to the present, "You said you bought me here for a reason, tell me what I need to do."

"The Conduit is the key. Before the Reapers attacked we Protheans were on the cusp of unlocking the mysteries behind the mass effect technology. Ilos was a top secret facility; here researchers worked to create a small scale version of a mass relay, one that linked directly to the citadel, the hub of the relay network."

"The conduit is not a weapon," Liara's hand gripped even tighter, "It is a backdoor onto the Citadel."

"The perfect attack route," Wrex grunted, "No army would stand a chance, let alone civilians."

"How did you manage to stay hidden?"

"All official records of our facility were destroyed in the initial attack on the Citadel, while the Prothean empire came crashing down, Ilos was spared. We severed all communication with the outside, and our facility went dark, the personnel retreated underground into these archives, to conserve resources everyone was put into cryogenic stasis. I was programmed to monitor the facility and wake the staff when the danger had passed." There was a long pause, and when it spoke again Shepard was certain she could hear regret in the voice, "But the genocide of an entire species is a long slow process. Years passed, decades, centuries, the Reapers persisted and my energy reserves were dwindling."

"You should have fought," Williams insisted.

"We were a few hundred against a galactic invasion fleet, our only hope was to remain undetected!" Another pause, and when it spoke the emotion was once more gone. However much personality had been imprinted onto the AI, it had clearly been corrupted over the millennia. "I began to disable the life support of nonessential personnel. First support staff, then security, one by one their pods were shut down to conserve energy." _Oh God._

There had been hundreds of pods, thousands, and that was only in the single corridor they drove down. The pods must have covered the entire underside, all the archives, stuffed with personnel. Potentially millions of lives, and all ended in order to keep a handful alive. Shepard couldn't imagine making the choice, she doubted any humane creature could. Vigil must have been down to he last resort options in its programming.

"Eventually, only the stasis pods of the top scientists remained active. Even these were in danger of failing when the Reapers finally retreated back through the Citadel Relay."

"There were hundreds of stasis pods out there," Tali's voice was hollow, "You just shut them down? You killed them?"

"You were programmed to protect them!" Williams pushed between Shepard and Liara, her rifle aiming vaguely at the console, "Not kill them!"

"This outcome was not completely unforeseen," Shepard grabbed Ashley's rifle and pulled it away, waiting until the marine had herself under control before handing it back. "My actions were as a result of contingency programming entered on my creation."

"Nothing but programs," Tali spat at it, "Just another Artificial Intelligence, with power over who lives and who dies."

"Tali, this thing is not malign," Liara turned back to the quarian, "It was programmed to do a task, if you wish to blame someone, blame those who put those programmes in place."

"Better yet," Garrus was back with them, "Blame the Reapers, for forcing this situation on them in the first place."

"You can't tell me you agree with this Garrus?"

The turian shrugged, "Sometimes the greater good must be considered. An entire species lost with no chance of helping those further down the line? Or a handful saved, and a chance to do something back to their enemies. If I was the only turian left alive by the Reapers, I would make sure my final bullet counted, or I would be glad to give my life so someone else could make that killing shot."

Williams didn't look convinced. "I bet they didn't tell the nonessential staff about this contingency."

Vigil continued as if nothing had happened, "I saved key personnel. When the Reapers retreated, the top researchers were still alive, my actions are the only reason any hope still remains. When the researchers woke they realised the Prothean species was doomed, there were only a dozen individuals left, far too few to sustain a viable population." Once more Shepard tried to wrap her head around the enormity of it, knowing that your species was doomed, knowing that your enemy had not only won the battle and the war, but had doomed you to extinction. Could she find the courage to keep fighting after that, knowing she wouldn't even be around to see the end results of her labours? The Prothean scientists had died never knowing whether they had even succeeded. "Yet they vowed to find some way to stop the Reapers from returning, a way to break the cycle forever, and they knew the keepers were the key."

"I still don't understand what's going on here," Wrex grunted, "Why is Saren trying to find this blasted Conduit?"

"The Conduit gives him access to the Citadel, and the keepers. The keepers are controlled by the Citadel; before each invasion, a signal is sent through the station, compelling the keepers to activate the Citadel Relay. After decades of feverish study the scientists discovered a way to alter this signal, using the Conduit they gained access to the Citadel and made the modifications. This time when Sovereign sent the signal to the Citadel, the keepers ignored it. The Reapers are trapped in dark-space."

"Saren must have some plan to undo everything you did." Shepard could already feel her resolve hardening; she was going to make sure that the Protheans hadn't died in vain. There was no way she would let any other species face extinction at the hands of the machines.

"The one you call Saren would use the Conduit to bypass the Citadel's defences. Once inside, he will transfer control of the station to Sovereign. Sovereign will override the Citadel's systems and manually open the relay, and the cycle of extinction will begin again."

"Is there any way we can stop them?" Liara asked.

"There's a data file in my console, take a copy when you go," Tali was already extending her omni tool through the orange glow, "When you reach the Citadel's master control unit, upload it to the station, it will corrupt the Citadels security protocols, and give you temporary control of the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."

_Slim hope is better than no hope at all._

"Wait, where's the Citadel's master control unit?" Garrus looked confused, and if even he didn't know where it was, they were in trouble. "I've never heard of anything like that."

"Once you are through the conduit, follow Saren, he will lead you to your destination."

_Simple enough, and we finally get to finish this chase._

"Come on people," She shook her head before Liara could even start to ask about using the AI any more, "We don't have any time left. Back to the mako, move it."

As she ran out the hologram faded behind her, but she thought she heard it say 'good luck' as they stormed into the elevator and sped away.

**AN:-** From here on out almost all of the dialogue is going to be my own. There's the confrontation with Saren, and the meeting with Council, but even then I'm going to be rewriting large chunks of the dialogue. Man this is exciting, isn't it?

Onwards!


	33. Chapter 32: The Conduit

**AN:-** So hey, I got a job again! Good for me in terms of money and a steayd paycheck, but it took a couple of days before I was able to sort out the whole 'awake on time and then asleep in time to be awake on time' thing.

Basically I'm aiming to get this finished by tonight or tomorrow, though it might not all be posted by then.

**Chapter Thirty-Two: The Conduit**

Before they were even out of the elevator Garrus asked, "Shepard, let me drive."

She thought it over for a second, "What about your leg?"

"It'll be fine. We don't have time to argue, and we don't have time to waste. I'm a better driver than you and you know it, and you're a better shot than me."

They were at the door, the others piling in. Shepard nodded, "Take the controls, get us to the Conduit as fast as you can."

"Can do Commander, it's finally time to see if all that calibrating has paid off."

She grinned, and followed him in. Sliding next to Wrex she strapped the harness firmly over her chest and swung the gun sights down, adjusting the resolution on the screen so it was more suited to her human eyes.

"Everyone hang on, this isn't going to be a normal Shepard trip."

He took off, faster than she knew the mako could go, the wheels spinning and throwing water up around them. The entire frame shook before settling in, micro adjustments on Garrus' part taking them past the roots that littered the ground without even clipping them. "New suspension system, made to order instead of factory standard." He explained as they slid into a tight turn. "Enemies ahead."

Shepard took a single second to sight before loosing a round, the explosive taking down two geth rocket troops before they had even turned to look. Wrex opened up with the assault gun and once more the mako shook to the reassuring cadence of automatic fire. The third and fourth rocket troops dropped and Garrus put them into a controlled skid, launching them over the lip of a short drop, "Tali, now!"

Tali hit the thrusters for a single second and they hit the ground moving, a much smoother transition than Shepard had ever been able to achieve. "It's all about the power to speed ratio," Garrus explained calmly as more geth fire flew past the hull, "If you pile on too much power on the landing you only wheel spin for a few seconds, too little power and you slow down. Get it right and the momentum of your leap carries you until the gears pick up."

"Not right now Garrus," Shepard told him through gritted teeth, bracing her arms against the massive recoil of the main gun as it sent a third round away towards the geth.

"But really Commander, this is such a fine machine, and so rarely used correctly."

They hit a root and for several hair raising seconds barrelled along on their side, Garrus still talking about the difference that an improved shielding system could make in terms of weight and balance. "Everything that goes into a vehicle must be precisely aligned to suit the needs of the driver. And since we need both heavy armour but manoeuvrability, I opted to position the centre of gravity in such a way that we can use the mako's full weight to give her more agility."

He spun them round a corner and they caught a glimpse of several armatures before he turned on the power, "Observe."

The assault gun chattered away, bringing down shields while Shepard tried to get a clear shot at one of the armature platforms. Garrus seemed to be taking them right into the line of fire but at the last second he wrenched a control lever and they drifted into a spin, Shepard's gun now perfectly aligned to hit the second armature while one of the geth's own rockets skimmed the hull and took the torso out of the first. Shepard's shot rang true and Garrus spun them back the right way.

"Under the right talons, this thing can dance."

"You sound like Joker," Ashley told him.

"Well, Joker and I have spent some time discussing ways we could improve the Normandy or the mako if we had a real budget instead of whatever Shepard can scrounge."

"Boys and your toys," Shepard was grinning, "Nothing's ever big enough or fast enough for you is it?"

"Well I have managed to all but double the power in our main cannon, you like?"

Shepard shot another armature and wondered how she had missed such an obvious upgrade. The gun that had once bounced off a Thresher Maw's scales now passed right through armour and shielding like it wasn't here. "I like."

"Uh, Commander." Liara was looking into a viewscreen, "You might want to face front for a moment."

Shepard spun the gun round, and her mouth dropped.

They were sitting at the top of a long ramp, with water running all the way to the bottom of it. Beyond that was a river, which in turn led to a deep pool, which was steaming slightly. It all looked very impressive, but not as much as the structure that rose from the centre of the pool.

A miniature Mass Relay, still easily the height of a two story house, rising out of the pool like Excalibur. The centre was spinning, pouring out the blue light she had gotten so used to seeing against the blackness of space. Here on a planet, there was something wrong about it, a colour which should never exist. Looking at it, she wondered if she could even see every facet of it, the underlying energy, the soul that made it work.

"Hang on tight; this thing isn't exactly rated for FTL travel."

"We'll have to risk it."

Garrus poured on the power, and they shot down the ramp, gathering speed with every second, the river gave them a natural trench they could follow, and it would lead them right to the base of the Conduit.

"How do we know this thing will even take us to the Citadel?" Ashley yelled.

"It's a one way trip, it can't go anywhere else," Shepard yelled back. Along with the noise of the geth colossi firing on them, the Conduit was humming, and it was setting her teeth on edge.

"What if it doesn't take us all the way?" The Gunnery Chief yelled back.

"It has to!"

"But what if it doesn't?"

Shepard spun her chair and grabbed Ashley's hand, making eye contact, "I can't give promises," She yelled, "But we are the last hope, so it has to work."

"That's a lot to ask Commander."

"Well I'm asking."

Tali's hand landed on top of theirs, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

Ashley's eyes went wide, but then she gripped Tali's hand in return. Liara leaned in as well. "It has been an honour serving with all of you."

"A pleasure," Wrex grunting, his meaty hand obscuring all of theirs as he turned to face them.

Garrus kept them on course all the way down, the shields flaring out halfway through and bullets beginning to pock the outside of the hull. Finally they were on the finally approach, the ramp ahead of them. "Good luck everyone," He yelled, sticking the lever to full and turning round to add his own hand to the pile.

"See you on the other side," Shepard cried out, but she didn't know if anyone heard, because a moment later everything went white.

* * *

It wasn't like being unconscious.

That was the first thing she thought, which at least seemed to confirm that she was still alive. _That's nice._ She could feel pressure around her, holding her firmly in place. Curious, she tried to lift her arm, and found that it was too heavy for her to lift. _That's not so good._ There was very little sensation of movement, or even disturbance inside the mako. She had expected that they would be buffeted on all sides, but instead there was only the pressure.

It was constant too, instead of rising or falling. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't think what. And as she tried to think more about it she realise that her thought processes were becoming slower. It was harder to concentrate; it felt like things were moving too slowly, her mind sluggish and dull.

_Not good._

She tried to lift her arm again, but didn't know if she had succeeded. She couldn't feel her arm at all. _Okay, calm down, what about the rest of you?_ She tried to move every part of her body, and found to her dismay that none of it seemed to work, but she couldn't be entirely sure because it felt like her entire body had gone to sleep. _Oh that's really not good._

She started to panic, and tried to pull back, only to remember that she couldn't move. The pressure hadn't increased, she was sure of it, but it felt more oppressive somehow. She tried to take a breath and realised that she hadn't been breathing since they jumped, and apparently hadn't even noticed. She panicked again and willed anything to move.

That was when she finally got some feeling back. Warmth around her right hand, fingers intertwined with hers, other hands, her team, all together, all there, all with her. Suddenly the need to move became less, and she realised that she didn't need to breathe either. Everything seemed to have stopped. It was just her, and her teammates, speeding through a once tested mass relay heading towards the Citadel locked inside a tiny metal tank, the only hope for the known and unknown galaxy.

_And you know what, that's completely…_

* * *

It was a lot like being shaken awake. Roughly. By having the head of your bed slammed against you. Shepard bounced forward until the seat's harness caught her, and was flung backwards, her entire back screaming as she hit something behind her. The seat spun wildly for a second before shearing loose. She found herself flying briefly through the mako, before the inevitable stop and pain all along her side as she collided with another wall.

Her eyes started working again, not that it did much good, her vision completely obscured by the dizzying spin they were undergoing. She saw gray at the edges of her vision when suddenly the world righted itself and the mako stopped moving. She took the deep breath she had been meaning to and looked around.

Righted was apparently the wrong term to use. From her resting point on the floor she was the right way up, but everyone else was dangling limp in their harnesses, upside down.

_Okay._

Her thought processes back to normal, she slapped the harness release and rolled out of the chair, feeling every second of it along her newly woken up body. _I think I preferred the deadweight me._ She pushed herself up partway and moved over to Liara, who was starting to stir.

"This is gonna hurt," She apologised, trying to get one arm in place to catch the asari. Once Liara was released Shepard guided her down as best she could, but still managed to scrape her lover along one of the consoles on the way down. "Sorry." She was more than a little disturbed to see blood running down Liara's head, but after examining the source it seemed to be no worse than a bad bump.

She moved on to Tali, who was a little more awake and running an emergency suit check. Shepard waited until she was done before moving into view. "Everything okay?"

"No breaches, but I'm going to be sore in the morning."

"We all are, come on, let's get you out." She slapped the release and Tali tumbled to the deck.

"Not as coordinated as I thought," She groaned, stretching out one leg, "I think I twisted something." She waved Shepard on, "Just give me a second to get some medigel, I'll be fine."

Satisfied, Shepard went to Wrex, who just growled at her before triggering his own release and falling to the deck hard enough to shake the tank. "I'm fine," He muttered at her, and she moved along one to Ashley's seat.

The Gunnery Chief was in bad shape, her left arm bleeding again through the medigel and several fingers on her right hand bent unnaturally backwards. Blood was running down her head as well, and she only shifted weakly as Shepard touched her shoulder. "Come on Chief, time to move."

"Five more minutes mom," She grumbled, then suddenly seemed to wake up, "Ship, mako, Citadel, ow." Her eyelids drooped again as she tried to flex her hand.

"Let's get you down; we can deal with the injuries later." Shepard slapped the harness and the Chief dropped into her arms, bringing them both to the deck. Shepard stretched her out carefully and turned to Garrus, who had freed himself and was crouch-walking along to her.

"We're on the Citadel." He confirmed.

"Where?"

"Right at the base of Citadel tower. The Protheans did their work right."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God for them. How long did we take?"

"No time at all."

"What?"

"Literally no time, I checked the clock, accounting for our crash and the seconds before the relay fired us, we were on Ilos about point three of a second before we were here."

_That's impossible, I was thinking through the whole trip, and for much more than point three of a second._

The others seemed to share her confusion, looking at Garrus like he was mad. "But I was…" Tali started, but trailed off.

_No time for this._

"Come on people." She forced her way over to the door and pushed down on the handle, which refused to budge. "I think we must be stuck on something."

Garrus came over and tried it as well, "I don't think so, the mako isn't exactly designed for FTL travel. Something must have shaken loose."

"All those calibrations you couldn't make sure the doors worked?" Ashley dead panned from the floor.

"Move," Wrex grunted, and Shepard had to practically tackle Garrus out the way as a full ton of krogan body armour and muscle slammed into the door. It wasn't a full sprint, but it was enough, and combined with the slope of the mako burst right through the door.

Shepard stared at the hole, trying to shake off the shock, "All right then," She turned back to the others, "Everyone out."

She went first, helping Garrus to the floor with his bad leg, and then the two of them helped Williams down. Liara was up and came out next, supporting Tali who was limping badly. Her team were in bad shape, there was no denying it. They had already been in several battles that would normally have been cause for them to stop and rest, but she was going to have to ask more of them, potentially more than they had. She was aware that her left arm was only a hairs breadth away from a break, and every so often her vision went fuzzy and gray.

"No time to lose," She said, stumbling away from the crash. The Citadel was in ruins, the crisp white surfaces stained in the blood of dozens of species, hundreds of beings dead in seconds. Corpses littered the area, most in pieces, torn apart by husks or gunfire. Everywhere she looked slaughter assaulted her eyes, until eventually she closed them just to try and get away from it. The smell was clogging her head, exotic blood and burning meat.

Liara's hand was wrapped in hers and she found the strength to open her eyes again. She drew her pistol with a hand that shook and staggered forwards, rounding the broken mako and looking over to where a set of spikes held husks. It seemed like human bodies were the only ones the geth could use, and as the corpses lowered Shepard thought of Anderson, and Udina, and Emily Wong and Conrad Verner and every being she had met during her brief time on the station.

A shotgun boomed and one of the husks ruptured in the middle, Wrex stepping past her and firing again. She shot the last one in the head, marvelling at her ability to aim through the haze that was her vision. "Into the elevator."

"Why would Saren go there?" Garrus protested.

"Just, trust me, okay?" She didn't know how she knew, but something she had seen, somewhere, told her that the Council Chambers were the place. Besides, nowhere else made sense.

"I really wish there was a better way to do this." Tali grumbled as Shepard waved her hand over the panel and the elevator crunched into life.

"What would you prefer?" Ashley had slumped against the wall, and was sliding down it slowly now. "Climbing sixty seven flights of stairs?" She sounded half delirious, and Shepard didn't like the way her armour was soaked in blood from the shoulder down to the wrist.

"Garrus?" She nodded to Ashley, and he understood, limping over with medi gel already prepared.

"M'fine," Ashley protested, but her eyelids were fluttering, and she seemed to be having trouble talking.

Just then the entire tower shook and the elevator ground to a halt. Shepard growled, an actual full throated growl that sounded more like a dog than a human, and pulled her helmet from where she had secured in on her back earlier. "Saren's locked the elevator," She told them, "Suit up, we're going for a walk."

They had barely gotten their helmets on when she drew her assault rifle and unloaded it into the glass wall. The first bullets did nothing, but then cracks started to appear, and just as the heat sink popped the glass exploded outwards, the atmosphere giving it motion for a second before the vacuum had it, freezing it in time.

Shepard leaned out of the elevator, feeling the artificial gravity shift uncomfortably around her as her torso was suddenly being pulled back towards the door while her feet were firmly attached to the floor.

"This isn't going to be big on dignity," She warned the others, and knelt on the floor of the elevator, gripping the sides and heaving herself upwards, up temporarily shifting and allowing her a brief moment of weightlessness before she was caught in the second pull and slammed harm into the side of the Citadel tower.

One by one they followed her out, Liara now supporting Ashley and looking worried. Shepard frowned, the Gunnery Chief didn't look good, but there was no better way to get her help than marching right into Saren's arms.

She contemplated her assault rifle for a moment, then let it fall down the side of the tower. She had never been any good with it anyway, and speed was going to be the victor here, not brute force. "Come on," She told them, and turned to walk up the tower.

**AN:-** Go to Mass Effect 1, open the map while standing in the Council Chambers. Look at the map, really look, look at the shape, look at the way the arms reach out and the Council's platform pokes out the top. Possibly easier to see if you can find a full version of the map online.

You see it? Yeah. That's how Shepard knows to go there to find Saren.

A couple of references here again. 'This isn't going to be big on dignity' Comes from the NuWho, (New Doctor Who) when Matt Smith (11th) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) are about to go through a rather ignoble situation. Ashley being delirious about '67 floors' is specific. The number is the number of floors you can choose to voluntarily climb in Final Fantasy VII rather than storm the main entrance. And the game makes you climb Every. Single. Floor. There was als a reference to Wrex 'only meant to blow the bloody doors off' but I thought that was pushing it.

We're near the endgame now aren't we? Thank you so much to everyone who's stuck with it, and these ramblings after and before every chapter. Please read and review.


	34. Chapter 33: The Dragon's Mouth

**AN:-** Another chapter in one night. Good lord I'm on fire. And I have work tomorrow. But then I've got enough time to sleep. Maybe, possibly one last chapter before sleep time.

**Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dragon's Mouth**

"You had to say it didn't you?" Tali panted as they climbed along the tower, stopping every so often to drop another geth.

"Huh?" Ashley was next to her, they were taking it in turns to support the wounded Chief, and all of them had been tasked with keeping her awake as well.

"Sixty seven floors, walking."

"Oops," She chuckled, and then flopped against the quarian, dragging them both down. Shepard rushed over and pulled them behind a metallic outcropping, avoiding the fire of a krogan warlord who was bearing down on them. She couldn't see Tali's face, but she imagined the quarian was grimacing as they fell to the deck.

"My ankle," She managed, and Shepard eased Williams onto her own back. "Keelah, this is not fun Shepard."

"I reckon we're about halfway," Shepard had been staring at the map ever since they jumped out, and it hadn't looked so long on the digital readout. "Then lots of rest, I promise."

"That would be nice." Tali leaned out and fired, the krogan folding at the middle, a perfect target for Garrus' well placed fire.

They came out of the trench they had been running through and staggered across an open plain, geth at the other end covering them with sporadic fire. Their shields were on the point of failure, and their weapons barely had time to cool down between engagements. Shepard's shotgun was uncomfortably hot on her back, and her sniper rifle had been next to useless after she had been forced to take down a quartet of geth destroyers with it.

She drew the rifle anyway, ignoring the way it burned her hands, and sighted on the furthest of the geth. Next to her she felt Garrus lying down with his own rifle, and together they picked off the targets like they were at a firing range. "Three one," She said, folding the rifle and wincing as it slotted into place on her back.

"There's still time."

A geth dropship roared overhead, settling right where they needed to be. "I reckon you're right," Shepard didn't bother with her rifle, pushing Williams over to Wrex she made a break for one of the defence turrets she had seen at the side of the tower. Some of them seemed to be working, but this one was hanging loose in its cradle.

It wasn't that she was bad with computers. It was impossible to be a high ranking member of the Alliance and not have a decent level of Information tech knowledge. And she was supposed to be an infiltrator as well. She had been given special instruction for years in the correct way to hack into computers, and when she applied herself her instructors had decreed her, "Brilliant."

That didn't mean she liked it.

Digging through the guts of the turret, she encountered problem after problem. Wiring that had been shoddily fixed, patches with alien writing explaining exactly how they were supposed to work. Bad software dumps that some careless engineer had clearly designed as a quick fix to fool the sensors into believing all the turrets were functional rather than fix it properly. After all, when would the turrets ever be needed? Who would possibly attack the Citadel? Shepard found herself cursing the unknown engineer, likely dead anyway, as sparks exploded onto her visor.

Above her the turret cranked back into life, and missiles started pouring out of it, pounding holes all along the geth ship, which was still dispensing a steady stream of troops that were swarming her team. She could hear the steady pound of Wrex's shotgun and the chatter of assault rifles as she hiked back over, drawing her sniper rifle and firing it point blank into a geth assault troop that was trying to draw a bead on Liara.

Wrex had gathered Williams behind him, and was shielding her with his body as she fired from behind him, missing for the most part but giving the geth pause for thought. Garrus and Tali were working together, him putting down the geth that she was able to remotely hack. Liara was flaring alternately black and blue as she hurled warp fields and singularities around. The artificial gravity of the Citadel often wasn't able to cope, so the geth were simply hurled into the vacuum, arms outstretched like metallic shooting stars.

The geth dropship shot past her, heading down, or relatively down anyway, towards the base of the tower and the Serpent Nebula., it left streamers of fire and electricity behind it, every surface sparking underneath it as it transferred its charge. She twitched in her suit as static shocks built in every corner.

Without the dropship providing constant reinforcements the geth became just another firefight, over in seconds, but it had clearly taken its toll. Her own sniper rifle had broken, the barrel glowing with heat, deformed by the amount of stress she had put it under. Garrus examined his rifle, which didn't seem to be cooling, venting steam from every available inch, and hurled it away towards one of the ward arms.

She felt like doing the same with her rifle, but settled for laying it down at her feet. Wrex was similarly dropping his shotgun, declaring, "Empty," When she gave him a look. The thought didn't appeal. She knew the guns were supposed to have enough ammunition to last through the majority of actions, but they had been firing near continuously since Ilos, and there was clearly a limit to what the weapons could go through. Thankfully, her shotgun and pistol seemed to have calmed down enough to use them again.

She gestured wordlessly, not able to offer encouragement, and they moved on.

They cleared another corridor, Ashley abandoning her pistol as they reached the next open space, and Shepard immediately had to shove them back as a rocket sailed past and blew a hole in the wall near her head. _This is insanity._

"It looks like Saren has control of the Citadel defences." Garrus observed from his position on the floor.

"Tali, I'm going to need something."

"I can only hack one of the turrets at a time," Her omni tool was glowing a dull yellow instead of the usual bright orange. "But it looks like there should be a way to shut them all down, assuming you can get to the central controller."

"I would ask, but let me guess, the central controller is on the far wall?"

"Sorry. Usually the engineers working on the turrets are coming down from the Council Chamber, not working up from the bottom."

"On the upside," Garrus was examining his map, "If we can get past these turrets instead of going around, then we're there." He showed her the map, "Literally, there's an access hatch right at the other end of this stretch of metal."

"Fantastic," She knocked his arm out of the way and poked her head round the gap, trying to gauge the distance. "Give me cover fire?"

"We don't have much left." Garrus took Wrex's sniper rifle.

"Everything you've got, I have to get to that panel."

"Understood Commander."

"On three." She smiled at Liara, who had raised her pistol, and was standing behind Garrus. "One. Two."

She threw herself out even while she was yelling three, ducking and scrabbling to the left even as she started so that the first barrage of missiles went past her. Fire rang out behind her as her team leapt out and opened up, their rounds sparking uselessly against the shields erected round the turrets. Shepard rolled over a vent and moved even faster as another volley of rockets destroyed it.

She stumbled and nearly tripped as a geth squad sprang up to her right and hammered down the last of her shields. She was forced to take cover in a small trench, ducking her head down as another batch of rockets impacted where she had been standing.

"Shepard." Her comm unit was crackling in her ear, laced with far too much static for the close range, "How are things looking?"

"Bad, I need a distraction, a real distraction, something big."

There was a long pause, and then Garrus' voice came over the comm, "Sorry about this."

"What?"

A second later she heard his voice, load and clear, "HEY LOOK AT ME I'M A TARGET!"

She jumped up and watched in amazement as Garrus jumped up and down, waving his arms and bellowing at the top of his lungs. The geth seemed just as transfixed by the sight, turning as one to aim at him, and the turrets followed suit. She wasn't about to waste precious seconds, and threw herself over the lip of the trench, charging straight for the panel at the back wall.

One of the turrets tried to track her movements and she was forced to dive forwards, her armour locking up from the force of the blow, trying to protect her from the damage. She sailed through the air, able to contemplate the wall rushing towards her, far too fast.

She hit it hard, her armour unlocking and letting her feel the full force of her impact, every joint in her body simultaneously screaming in pain and her back feeling like it was on fire.

_Ignore it, no time now, the panel._

She hauled herself to her feet and slid along the wall to the access panel, drawing her shotgun and putting a round through the metal covering, exposing the delicate wires and circuits. _No time for subtlety._ She shoved her hand into the middle of the wires and yanked.

For a split second she felt the pain as all the power rushed through her, then she went numb and felt nothing.

"Shep…"

"N't move h…"

"Ugh power to fr…"

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Above her the team were staring at her in concern. "You're back," Garrus remarked as Liara tackle hugged her.

"I go someplace?"

"Very nearly." Tali was sitting next to her, running an omni-tool over her body. "You absorbed enough power out of those power cells to light a city block for a week."

Shepard raised her eyebrows, "That much power and I'd be dead, stop exaggerating."

"Well alright, but still…" Her trailing off left Shepard in doubt about how close she had come.

"But I'm alright now?" She tried to stand and found her entire body was still numb. "Maybe I'm not."

"I'll carry you," Garrus said, bending down to lift her.

"No you won't, you can barely stand." She touched his leg and he fell back hissing like a cat.

"I am fine." Wrex stepped forwards and slung her easily up, "You are not."

"How's Ashley?" She asked as Wrex carried her towards the access hatch.

"Unconscious, has been since you ran out."

"But she was awake when I ran out."

"Well she wasn't afterwards."

"We have to end this." Shepard suddenly had a thought, "Where is she?"

"Wrex took her to the access hatch while I was getting you."

They arrived at the access hatch to find Ashley awake, with her arm in a proper bandage and the bleeding mostly stopped. "You look like crap Commander." She said jovially.

"So do you."

"I don't think I'll be much good in a fight."

"Well we're taking you along, but just make sure you go somewhere safe." Feeling returned to her dead leg. "OW!" She spasmed in Wrex's arms, feeling abruptly returning to the rest of her body, "Alright, you can put me down."

He lowered her to the deck and she tested out her limbs, making sure everything was working right, "Alright then, it's time to go and show Saren where he can stick his Reapers." She paused to think over her sentence, "That doesn't even make sense but I'm going with it. Wrex, get this hatch open."

Rather than tumbling straight out into the main concourse they found themselves in a cramped service duct that led them through several twists and turns before finally depositing them right next to the elevator shaft they had just run along the outside of. "Final weapons check," Shepard coughed, pulling out her pistol and shotgun.

As she had feared the shotgun had breathed its last when she used it to open the control panel, leaving her with only her pistol. Williams was also down to her pistol, but Liara and Tali had working assault rifles which they handed to Garrus and Wrex. _Should have thought of doing that earlier, back with the turrets._ Shepard shook her head, _No time for second guessing yourself now, only time for finishing this._

"Okay people, we've got one chance to make this count. For everyone. Every single race, every planet, every being in the galaxy is depending on us, right here and now, finishing this before Saren can summon the Reapers." She looked everyone in the eyes, "And that's about all I've got for inspiring speeches, so I hope it's enough."

She turned and raised her pistol, jogging as fast as she could manage. She led the way up the steps and out around the fountain, which was shattered, leaking water across the floor. At the next set of stairs she paused and waited until everyone was gathered behind her. The telltale squawks of the geth told her exactly what was going to happen when she stuck her head up.

"Tali?"

The quarian accessed her omni tool and waved it once through the air. Gunfire split the air above them and a metallic body fell down. Shepard smoked the geth Tali had hacked and they climbed the stairs.

"That was it," Tali whispered as they moved, "My omni tool's out as well."

"This just gets better and better." There was no time to switch omni-tools; it took hours of correct procedure. They reached the final approach to the council chambers.

Saren was already there, standing on a platform that had extended out of the one Shepard had once stood on to be inducted into the SPECTRES. It felt like a whole other lifetime ago. A computer display was open before him and he was waving his hands in front of it. Shepard fired, the round missing and passing through the holographic screen; he turned to see them charge, thundering up the steps and loosing dozens of rounds at him.

Unperturbed, he simply stepped off the edge of the platform and out of sight. Shepard realised what was about to happen a second early and threw herself to one side, the others following suit on either side of the short bridge leading to the walkway. Saren soared up on his hovercraft and threw something, an explosion showering them with bits of floor.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time Shepard." He sounded happy.

"In time for what?"

"The final confrontation. I think we both expected it would end like this. You've lost; you know that don't you? In a few minutes Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel's systems. The Relay will open, the Reapers will return."

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." It was bluff and he knew it. If she couldn't get him the hell away from that console then they were all about to die.

"You survived our encounter on Virmire, but I've changed since then, improved. Sovereign has upgraded me."

Her eyes went wide and she leaned out, almost to confirm that it was true. What she saw appalled her. Where before he had had a geth arm in place of his own, now his skin practically hummed with circuitry, his eyes glowing a brilliant blue more steady than anything natural. "You let Sovereign implant you? Are you insane?"

He rested a talon on his chin, looking for all the world like he was truly thoughtful. "I suppose I should thank you Shepard. After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said, about Sovereign manipulating me, about indoctrination. The doubts began to eat away at me, Sovereign sensed my hesitation, I was implanted to strengthen my resolve; now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics." It was the same rhetoric, spouted mindlessly by so many deluded cultists throughout history. But this one had access to the weapons to back his denial.

"Join us," His voice seemed to ooze into her ear, "And Sovereign will find a place for you too."

"You're insane if you think I'd ever join you. You're just a tool of the machine, and you can't even see it. He's controlling you through your implants, why can't you understand that?"

"The relationship is symbiotic: organic and machine intertwined; a union of flesh and steel, the strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future Shepard, the evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny, join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth."

She gripped her pistol tight, _I won't let that happen, I can't. That future will never come to pass._ She thought of Kaidan, _You didn't die for nothing; I'll make sure of it._ "Sovereign hasn't won yet. I can stop him from taking control of this station." She stood and approached him, confident that at the least he was arrogant enough to risk her being so close. "Step aside and the invasion will never happen." _And if you don't step aside, I'll push you away._ She thought, her hand tightening on the pistol in her grip.

"We can't stop it, not forever," He sounded almost desperate now, and his posture had shifted, leaning forwards with his arms outstretched. _This isn't denial._ "You saw the visions, you saw what happened to the Protheans, the Reapers are too powerful." _This is madness. What he saw in those visions drove him insane. I can't help him now._ Her grip on the gun was even tighter. _Or maybe I can help him find some peace._

"Some part of you must still realise this is wrong. You can fight this." She offered the last part out, hoping that he would take the bait, but instead he drew his pistol and aimed it at her.

"Maybe you're right, maybe there is still a chance for… for…" He hunched over and clutched his head. His scream was terrifying, coming from some place that wasn't fully organic, the whine of an overloaded computer humming behind his voice, "The implants! Sovereign is too strong, I'm sorry Shepard, it is too late for me."

"I'm sorry Saren."

"Goodbye," The gun shifted, and she was reminded of how she had seen Fai Dan, fighting the influence of the thorian, pulling the gun to his own temple, fighting against a force that by rights should have overthrown him completely months, or even years before. "Shepard." He said one last time, and pulled the trigger.

**AN:-** I always quite like the last bit of this, where Saren blows his own head off. It kind of made up for being a paragon the whole way through. The second game made Paragons a bit more badass but in Game 1 they were kind of hippy trippy airy fairy, so I like that the final option of the Paragon in Game 1 is to make Saren shoot himself.


	35. Chapter 34: Sovereign

**AN:-** Warning: Hard swear words used in this chapter.

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Sovereign**

"Vigil's data file worked." She ignored the shattered glass that Saren had fallen through a second before. She ignored her injuries burning every fibre of her body. She ignored her teammates, collapsed around the bridge and the walkway. She ignored all of it in order to drag herself over to the computer and enter the file. "I've got control of all system."

"Quick," Garrus managed to look up at her. "Open the station's arms, maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down before he regains control of the station."

"See if you can open a communications channel." Liara offered instead.

Static opened up as she opened the links up, "...The Destiny Ascension main drives offline, kinetic barriers down forty percent, the Council is onboard I repeat the Council is onboard."

"Normandy to the Citadel," She nearly cried as she heard Joker, alive and brilliantly cheerful as always. "Normandy to the Citadel," He had picked up on her transmission, "Please tell me that's you Commander."

She choked the words out through a sob, "I'm here Joker."

"We caught that distress call Commander, I'm sitting here in the Anduras Sector with the entire Arcturus Fleet." _The whole fleet? Hundreds of ships, dozens of battle-cruisers. We just might win this._ "We can save the Ascension, just unlock the Relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in."

"Are you sure about this Shepard?" Tali was at her side in a moment. "Human casualties will be very high if you send your fleet in now."

"This is bigger than humanity," She knew Liara didn't want to say it, but someone had to remind her, "Sovereign is a threat to every organic species in the galaxy."

"True," Garrus had joined in, "That's why you can't waste reinforcements trying to save the Council." He sounded decidedly more calm about it. "You must hold them back until the arms open; your fleet can go after Sovereign.

"What's the order Commander?" Joker, listening to her order, not Hackett, not Anderson. But then, Anderson was probably dead. "Come in now to save the Ascension, or hold back?"

She barely even had to think about it. She had seen too much division already, too much of people blaming each other, too much in fighting when they had needed togetherness. Her team was proof of it; her ship was proof of it. The Normandy, built to turian and human standards together. Her team, who now sat together, keeping themselves alive."

"Opening the Relays now Joker. We need to save the Ascension no matter what the cost."

Garrus stared at her, somewhere between admiration and disbelief, "I hope the Council appreciates this."

_They will. She already knew._

"Alliance ships," It was Hackett's voice; Joker had left the channel open for her. "Move in, save the Destiny Ascension." She didn't know whether it was because of his professionalism or because he really trusted her, but he sounded like he meant the order as much as she had.

She finally looked down, at where the body of former-SPECTRE Saren lay sprawled across the rocks. He looked tiny in death. It didn't feel at all like he should have inspired the sort of terror that he did. It didn't feel right that Kaidan had died, for this moment of anticlimax. They weren't even going to be involved in the final assault. It was all out of their hands now.

_But still, no harm in being cautious. _She turned back to Garrus, "Make sure he's dead." She told him. He nodded and signalled to Wrex, who stood and followed him as they jumped down onto the grass beneath the Council Chambers. Every one of her team was leaving blood trails wherever they went now, it was terrible.

_We did it. So why do I feel so pointless all of a sudden?_

There was a gunshot below and Garrus looked up.

"He's dead."

_Finally._ She nodded down, "Come back up, time to get going."

There was a rumble below and the walkway shook.

_Oh no._ Shepard barely had time for the thought as the explosions blew the entire Citadel around. The platform she stood on shook loose and dropped, sending her crashing to the floor, her arm awkward beneath her. She felt the bone go and cried out, rolling to her feet and clutching her shoulder as waves of pain rippled through her.

Saren, or what was left of him, rose before her, spine bent back, the skull leaning forwards on a neck that was suddenly too long. His jaw wa gone, burned away completely to expose the open top of his ribcage. He advanced on legs too thin to support him fully, every step sending tremors through his body, arms swaying limp.

I AM SOVEREIGN. The voice echoed louder than ever before, coming from somewhere that had nothing to do with Saren's body. A pressure wave built behind her teeth and she dropped to the ground as her vision went white. AND I WILL NOT BE DENIED.

There was a spark of intense pain in her mouth and spat, feeling part of one of her back teeth falling from her lips. Blood was streaming from her nose and her broken arm felt like it was about to fall off completely. Groping wildly she found her pistol, pulling it from her hip, the motions automatic as she swung it towards Saren's general direction and fired.

There was a scream of pain that sounded like metal being pulled over bone and the pressure released. She opened her eyes to see Saren stumbling back a step, a round clean through his ribcage. Her arm was still outstretched, the pistol smoking slightly as she pulled the trigger again, another scream as the bullet sparked off Saren's arm.

The recoil ached with every round she fired, tremors up and down her entire body as the gun barked, deafening in the confined space. The body collected itself and came forward again, ignoring the holes being punched through it with every step. Her arm was dropping, her bullets now more likely to miss than hit.

A taloned foot slammed into her chest and she was thrown back, smashing into the remains of the platform. Her armour was ripped open and blood was pouring from her chest as the husk above her screamed in victory, raising its leg again and bringing it down towards her head.

A shotgun blast sounded off to her right and shards of metal rained down on her face, the remains of Saren's foot scratching her cheeks and forehead. "Get away from her you bastard." Tali gasped, her voice sounding oddly muffled and clear at the same time. Shepard rolled her head to see the quarian lying several feet away, large cracks on her visor and a red hot shotgun in hand.

The eyes glowed red as the whole body swung round. Saren dropped to the ground like a gigantic spider and crawled over to Tali, his shattered foot sliding on the smooth surfaces. Shepard couldn't lift her arm, and could only watch in horror as Saren hovered over the girl and screamed again. Pistol shots cracked and Saren reeled again to see Garrus, who was crawling over to Tali's side.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He gasped.

"Or better yet," Wrex pulled himself out from under the collapsed walkway, "Someone my size." He managed nearly a full sprint, hitting Saren so hard tat one arm came clean off. The two of them barrelled into the far wall, where Wrex started pummelling the thing. It hit back, and the krogan sailed through the air.

"Why won't this thing die?" Garrus was firing again, his bullets doing nothing. A biotic push succeeded in tripping the husk though, and Shepard looked behind her to see Liara, sitting against the broken walkway, her corona flickering in and out. Saren looked confused for a moment as it tried to take in all the targets.

The red eyes soon came round to Shepard again and it dropped to the floor, starting towards her. Wrex appeared from nowhere and landed on it, coming away with the legs still kicking him. The torso remained unimpaired, scrabbling for her and screeching. A bullet tore a chunk from its hand.

"Hey ugly," Ashley had crawled to the edge of the Council Chambers and was firing down, "Why not come up here so I can see you better?"

Another brief pause while the husk considered, then carried on to Shepard, reaching her in seconds, one vice like hand clamping down on her right arm while the other pulled back, ready to cave her head in.

"Surprise you murdering fuck."

The shock going through her left arm as the pistol fired into the underside of Saren's head hurt so hard it was all she could do to hold on after the first bullet. It released her other arm and flailed back, remaining upright for only a second before her continued fire put it flat on the floor. She transferred the gun to her other hand and kept firing, a steady stream of bullets that tore holes in its head and her body.

She only let go when the gun became too hot to hold, and the ammo counter read empty. Outside, the viewscreen cleared for a moment as Sovereign released his grip on the Citadel, letting her know that Saren was finally dead. She had a clear view of the Serpent Nebula, glowing pink and blue beneath them, she stared down at it, _That's a view worth saving_. Then Sovereign's bulk fell past, still alive but clearly wounded.

"Is it over?" Tali asked behind her.

"Not quite." She pulled herself up, cradling her broken arm. "But we're finished, and Sovereign's going down right now." She turned to the others. "Wrex, Garrus, get everyone topside, then one of you come back for me."

They nodded and gathered up the others, hauling them up the battered platform and resting them next to Ashley, who was unconscious again. Wrex had just turned to come back for her when yet another massive explosion sounded, and Garrus stared in horror at the viewscreen. "Watch out!" He shouted.

Shepard pointed straight at Wrex, who still looked like he was going to jump down, "Leave me, get them out of here, get out of the blast radius."

The krogan nodded his great head once, then turned round and heaved Liara and Tali roughly onto his shoulders. Shepard had once last look of Liara's face, their eyes meeting for a single second, and then she was gone, and Shepard was left alone in the pit under the Council Chambers. She didn't have the energy to climb out, and her whole body was in pain. Instead she sat back against the platform, and watched as a great arm came through the viewscreen.

She had time for one last thought before the glass exploded towards her, one last thought before unconsciousness claimed, one last thought for the Reaper that was flying to pieces above her, _I beat you, you son of a bitch._

Voices, a long way off, woke her.

At first there was nothing. She couldn't even hear the voices she was sure had woken her. She thought that her eyes were open, but since everything was pitch black she wasn't sure. Then she tried to move and felt like someone was digging glass into every inch of her skin. She couldn't help screaming, but it at least managed to help her move, and as she contracted she bashed her head on a piece of metal, shifting something.

Light poured in and she flinched away from it, trying to curl up but her body hurt too much. She growled and rolled towards the light, her eyes half shut against it and her broken arm held tight against her. She fell onto a patch of grass that had been burnt to cinders and winced as it scratched her cheek. It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to find uncomfortable that she laughed, and with the laugh sound returned.

There were voices everywhere, and the sounds of metal being shifted above her. She looked up and saw the top of the Citadel tower, the viewscreen completely smashed in. The sight made her smile, and she looked at where she had ended up, trapped between a piece of Sovereign's massive arm and the walkway to the Council Chambers.

"I see something!" A voice declared above her, and a bright light focused on her, causing her to once more shield her eyes, crying out as her arm shifted uncomfortably.

"It's Shepard!" The voice was familiar, but she was too disoriented to make it out, "Turn that light off and get her out of there."

The light faded and she was able to see again, blinking spots from her vision. Footsteps thudded around and she was lifted gently and laid onto a bed. It felt softer than anything she had ever felt before. There was a faint hissing noise near her head and a slight prick on her neck. She felt the sedative swimming into her body and the pain faded almost immediately.

"Shepard?" Anderson's face loomed above her, "Are you alright?"

"My team," She managed.

"All alive." There was a long pause and she realised Anderson had taken her hand, "You did it Shepard. Sovereign's down, the Council was saved, the geth fleet has been scattered and Saren's dead."

"Wasn't hard," She yawned, "Gonna sleep now, if it's okay sir?"

He actually laughed, and she couldn't help but chuckle as well, her body protesting the attempt. "Get some rest Shepard, you've earned it."

She faded back into the blackness, but it wasn't so bad this time round.

**AN:-** Only the epilogue left. I'd really hoped that this chapter would be a little longer, but I didn't feel like dragging out the shooting Saren bit any longer, and while the bit with Shepard at the end was longer there's only so long you can drag out Shepard sitting alone in a little black hole before it just starts repeating, and I think by that point you already know how much pain she's in already.

I'm going to defend having Shepard get a bit emotional when Joker responds to the call, because I think it's pretty realistic. This one solid thing in the middle of a war zone, and he never changes. Joker is always there, and I know that certainly in the second game seeing him at the end was a real emotional moment, so I wanted to have Shepard reflect it now as well. And besides, the team have almost literally been through hell, so it's no wonder Shepard's a little taut.

If you go onto and find the Mass Effect Wild Mass Guessing page you can find my theory about how the Normandy and Shepard's cre are symbolic of how and why the Reapers will lose, but basically it's to do with the cooperation thing, instead of having one global dictatorship, they have a democracy, thanks in part to the uplifting of cro-magnum man ahead of time (remember that bit with the Consort's trinket and the big glowy ball thing)

Sovereign's voice. The last time we heard him speak I put it in all caps but made the text smaller, almost like the way DEATH speaks in Terry Pratchett's Diskworld. This time the caps were left large, to represent that Sovereign is shouting. Not very subtle, but just a tiny back ground trivia thing about how my mind works when I write.

'Get away from her you..." A reference to Aliens, which if you've seen the movie, you know the moment. I just wanted to have Tali be the one to do something absolutely badass when it counted.

'Surprise you murdering...' A reference to the Battle Royale manga, which I was in the middle of reading while I wrote this. Specifically the fight between Hiroki Sugimura and Kazuo Kiriyama. One of my favourite moments from the entire series.

Also, hey, Wrex finally got to do his thing again. And yes, an adult krogan battlelord in full armour does apparently weigh in at one ton, so it's like Saren had a car hit him at about 20-30 mph. Ouch.

I wasn't gonna have any of them do the cheesy walking thing that Shepard does at the end of the game, because I'm sorry but it was ridiculous. They just fought Saren, having been in a constant firefight since Ilos, and got catapulted halfway across the galaxy. None of them should be able to stand even before Sovereign bits come flying through the window.

Longest Author's Note yet, but I have a feeling the next one (and last for this book) will be even longer.


	36. Epilogue: Rebuilding

**AN:-** Oh my God it's done. Just the epilogue.

**Epilogue: Rebuilding**

She stood off to one side with her arm in a sling and her face covered in gauze as the Council gathered before them. It was over a month later, and the Presidium was beginning to clear itself up after the attack. The final count of the dead had yet to be finished, and the entire galaxy seemed to be holding its breath in preparation for something, but no one seemed to know quite what to do next. The surfaces were being cleaned day and night by diligent keepers, but they were still burned and broken in so many places.

Shepard didn't like watching the keepers work. Despite all the reassurances that they were on the side of the Council, she would never bring herself to trust the unassuming worker species. Not after what they could have done.

"Ambassador," The asari councillor finally called them all together. She stood next to Captain Anderson, with Udina on the far side. "Captain, Commander Shepard, we have gathered here to recognise the massive contributions of the Alliance Forces in the war against Sovereign and the geth."

"Many humans lost their lives in the battle to save the Citadel," _I wonder if part of the deal for joining the Council is that you agree to share sentences between each other, instead of all speaking at once?_ She wondered idly as the turian councillor spoke, "Brave and courageous soldiers who willingly gave their lives so that we, the Council," _We all know who you are moron._ "Might live."

"There is no greater sacrifice," _Really?_ Shepard couldn't help but think as the asari spoke again, _I can think of much worse things to lose._ "And we share your grief over the tragic loss of so many noble men and women." There was a long pause, and Shepard found herself wondering again, but she tried to stay focused. "The council also owes you a great personal debt Commander," They were speaking to her now, and she could tell Udina wasn't pleased about the attention. _Just because I saved the entire galaxy, it's no need to be snippy councillor._ "One we can never repay. You saved not just our lives, but the lives of billions from Sovereign and the Reapers."

_Try trillions, quadrillions, numbers too big to even comprehend. They just don't get it, total galactic extermination. How can I ever make the understand? They even saw Sovereign. At least now they can't deny his existence. That was pretty conclusive proof. _"Commander Shepard, your heroic and selfless actions serve as a symbol of everything humanity and the Alliance stand for." The salarian at least seemed certain as he spoke.

"And though we cannot bring back those valiant soldiers who gave their lives to save ours," _He just can't get over the fact that humans saved his arse can he?_ She almost smirked at the turian councillor, but managed to hold it in. "We can honour their memories through our actions."

"Humanity has show it is ready to stand as a defender and protector of the galaxy; you have proved you are ready to join our ranks and serve beside us on the Citadel Council."

"Councillor," _Oh no._ She hadn't even realised that Udina might end up on the Council. She wondered if she would have been so quick to save the galaxy if she had known. "On behalf of humanity and the Alliance we thank you for this prestigious honour and humbly accept." _Humbly? And I bet you'd accept, as long as it gave you a chance for the big seat._

"We will need a list of potential candidates to fill humanity's seat on the Council."

"Given all that has happened," They were talking to her again, which shocked her out of her head, "I am surer that your recommendation will carry a great deal of weight Commander. Do you support any particular candidate?"

_Oh boy._ She looked across, and saw Anderson, a face that could have been carved from stone, and Udina, who had the same smug grin he always wore, whether he was winning or losing. _Time to do something about that,_ She thought. "We need someone with the courage to stand up for what he believes in," She said, and was pleased to see Udina puffing even more full of himself. "Someone like Captain Anderson."

"WHAT!" She grinned evily and turned to see the Councillor glaring at her with open anger. _Finally, an honest emotion out of you. _"Him! you must be joking," He managed to get himself under control, and turned to the Council, as if beseeching for their help. "Anderson prefers to let his fists do the talking."

"Only with you Ambassador," Anderson still looked just as professional, but she thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips, "Only with you."

"Are you sure about this Commander?" She knew asari faces well enough to know that the Councillor was looking bemused at the theatre the Ambassador was putting on for them. "The Captain's a soldier, not a politician."

_Exactly, _"We've already got too many politicians on the Citadel," She bowed her head slightly to take some of the sting from her words, but the turian councillor still grumbled and crossed his arms. "The Captain would be perfect for this job."

"I think it's an inspired choice," There was the faintest hint of a smile on the asari's lips, and suddenly Shepard wanted to be back with Liara, who was back on the Normandy helping to fix the crew up. "The Council would welcome him with open arms, should he accept."

Now they turned to Anderson, who stepped forward with a purpose in his step she hadn't seen since he was relieved from command, "I'm honoured Councillor. As humanity's representative, I'll do everything in my power to help the Council rebuild."

"Sovereign's defeat marks the beginning of a new era, for both humanity and the Council."

_All words, they want this to be over, but I know it isn't. _"Sovereign was only a vanguard," She reminded them, "The Reaper Fleet is still coming, hundreds of ships, maybe thousands," She felt a lopsided grin spreading over her face, and knew exactly what it would look like. The last time she had smiled like that, it had been with Hanna, right before a certain space hamster prank. It was a smile she hadn't had in a long time, but it felt right to open herself up to the emotions it represented again. "But I'm gonna find some way to stop them."

She turned on her heel and left them to it, anxious to get back to the Normandy. Behind her she heard Anderson taking charge, "Shepard's right, humanity is ready to do it's part. United with the rest of the Council, we have the strength to overcome any challenge. When the Reapers come we must stand side by side! We must fight against them as one! And together, we will drive them back into dark-space!"

_And the Normandy will be right there at the head of that fleet._

**AN:-** According to my computer this is 106,174 words long. According to I started posting it on the 4th October 2010. It has 12,249 hits at time of writing, 36 chapters, and 48 reviews.

106,714 words, 6 months, 30 something hours of gameplay

Thanks for sticking with me.

Some thanks for the final epilogue:

Thanks of course to BioWare, for making one of, if not _the_ best, Western RPGs of the last decade at least. Thanks to Jennifer Hale, for providing, in my opinion, Commander Shepard's voice, her proper voice. Thanks to RedBull, for providing the stimulus to get through some of the Noveria sections instead of getting me bogged down. Thanks to Aerosmith, for providing the soundtrack for most of my writing, not just this.

Now then, thanks to (in alphabetical order):

Allyon  
alonsis2  
Amanda  
ared  
greiger  
Gunslingergrrrl  
Kachie Takahashi  
kaz  
Ledilettant  
MaxNight  
miralinda  
Musicmakesmehigh  
OBBLES  
vicroid

Haven't seen some of you review in a while, but I hope you're still reading. Reviews do really get me through sometimes, and way back when I was starting this, I really did take on those suggestions, and hopefully the story became better for it. Also, alonsis2, I rewrote the prologue almost completely, so I do hope you went back and read it again. (heehee)

Alright then. I will be novelising Bring Down the Sky at some point in the intervening time, but probably I'll jump right in to Mass Effect: Out of the Dark

I hope you enjoyed reading Mass Effect: Into Greatness even half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Pleas read and review.


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